


Nobody like him

by Dreaca200023



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:55:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 29,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24538849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreaca200023/pseuds/Dreaca200023
Summary: This is my take on Sheply. Still new to this and I suck at summaries. Enjoy
Relationships: Male Shepard/Ashley Williams
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. Beginning

"Doctor, Doctor Chakwas....I think he is waking up" 

Shepard blinked as he waking up to a voice he was familiar to. His head felt like a log as he tried to get up, almost fell as he felt warm hands supporting him so he can get back up. It took a brief minute before he was able to turn his head to see that Williams was looking at him with real concern in her bright brown eyes. 

"You had I worried there Shepard. How are you feeling?" Dr.Chakwas asked as she walked towards his bed. 

"Like a day after a shore leave. " He said with a slight sarcastic tone. But still withering from the headache." How long was I out?"

"About fifteen hours." With a questioning gesture on her face "Something happened down there at the beacon i think?" She asked almost like a question. 

"It's all my fault" Ashley raiced her voice as an answer to doctor. " I must have activated some kind of a security field when i approachrd it. You had to push me out of the way. " With a frowning face she continued. She was expecting and was ready to get blamed.

" That thing was nearly 50,000 years old. If not more. " Shepard said with a more serious tone. ' Here it comes' She thought.  
"You had no way to know what would happen"  
The young commander's words took her by surprise. She felt a little smile was forming on her face. And mild blush. 

Never jn her career, a high ranking offer as commander Shepard stood up for her. She almost felt like he was defending her. She can be pretty sure that every commander she ever worked with blamed something on her. But Shepard was different.  
But she had no high hopes either. Once he knew about the beacon. She was sure she is going to get blamed. 

" We don't know if that was the case in the first place. Unfortunately we'll never get to chance to find out" Doc said with a dissatisfied tone. 

'Okay. Now he must be really pissed off. He is Daniel Fucking Shepard. He never failed a mission after Akuze. ' Ash thought to herself. At least I should say what happened. 

Making her brace herself for what coming next, she said "The beacon exploded" she walked towards the commander with a slight pause" System overload maybe. The blast knocked you cold" knowing that was her fault. He face went a little dark."The lieutenant and I carried you the ship." Thinking that she was definitely gonna get in trouble for that Ash finished.

"I appreciate that" Shepard looked at her as her fluffy lips turned to a smile. He thought to himself it's enough that her entire team died on Eden Prime. He couldn't put that on her shoulders too. 

(Meanwhile in Ash's mind)

'Did he just...did just thanked me? Not even mentioned about the beacon! ' She never felt like this before. 'This beautiful man just thanked me for saving his life not even mentioning my fault. ' Never in her life someone showed her respect like that. She didn't even feel that her lips made into a smile. Looking at Shepard like he was the best man in the world. 

She came back to her senses as Dr. Chakwas stated that Shepard was physically fine. But his brain was performing abnormally. Shepard said that he was dreaming, not knowing what. Some visions about death and destruction. While Captain Anderson came to med bay. They all stood up. 

"How's our XO holding up, Doctor?" He asked with an authority in his voice. 

Ash was more than relieved when the doctor stated that he was gonna be fine. 

"Glad to hear it. Shepard I need to talk to you." While looking at gunnery chief " In private " said the captain

"Aye aye Captain." She salhted. As she was going to exit. She looked at Shepard" I will be in the mess if you need me" said while keeping her smile on her face. And with that. She exited the med bay along with Dr. Chakwas following her. 

Anderson and Shepard talked about the situation, about geth not being outside the veil for nearly 200 years, about Jenkins death, and rouge Spectre known as Saren who was with the geth and who was behind the attack. Anderson said that they were going to the Citadel. And get council's opinion on this. As soon as he was going to leave. 

" Captain, Why is chief Williams on the Normandy? " Shepard asked curiously. 

"After Eden prime I thought she would be a good asset to the team. Plus after what she's been through and what she's done for you. I figured it will be for the best if she was under your command. " Anderson said with a little smirk on his face. While Shepard was still figuring out what he said. Seeing the quizzled face on Shepard, Anderson stated again  
" Cm'on Shepard do you think I don't see how you tend to defend her like your sister?" While refreshing his memory " Jane would be in her age now if she was here. " Anderson said with almost letting out a tear. 

Seeing captain's state, Daniel stated " Williams is a good soldier. I think she will be a Great addition to the team"  
"Lieutenant Alenko agrees with you"


	2. Sparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter of my story. And I still suck at summaries. Enjoy ♥️. Any criticism is welcome as help. And almost forgot. Bioware owns all.

Ashley was looking though the window and gazing at endless stars as Normandy passed through dozen of nebulas and clusters. Memories of her late crew members flowed through her mind. How they fought for survival, but falling one by one. Until there was only two of them. How they plowed through enemies wave after wave until both of them couldn't. When Nirali Showed her down the hill so she could survive while taking shots after shots ath e geth prime as it clenched it's clove into her body and ripped her apart. The memories were haunting.  
She was almost drowning in her sorrows when she saw Shepard was coming towards her through the glass. She quickly dried her tears and took a very sturdy breath as she faced the commander. 

Despite knowing her for a few hours, Shepard needed to talk to her. Knowing her state. How he faced the exactly the same thing back on Akuze, he felt like he should at least talk to her, to help her. The woman had lost her entire squad but stayed strong. He was always drawned to that type. He walked upto her and before saying anything she greeted him. Staying on her strong state. 

"I'm glad you're okay commander," Going back to her sad but not-so- readable face "The crew could use some good news after what happened to Jenkins" 

She couldn't help but feel guilty for taking Jenkins place. If he hasn't died, she wouldn't be here. 

"Jenkins was a good soldier, he sure will be missed. More to Dr.Chakwas. He was the one always get injured because of some stupid reason. He was a good kid and he was a valuable part of this crew. " Shepard mumbled as he looked at Ashley's face. It was floating on sorrow and sadness. Somehow it broke his heart to see her like that. Not knowing the reason

"Part of me feels guilty over what happened. if Jenkins was still alive I might not even be here" Ash said with facing down at her shoes. 

She felt a light touch on her shoulder seeing commander put a hand on her shoulder and leaning towards her. She couldn't say why she felt so warm and something that time. But she felt secure at some point.

" Jenkins was a good soldier, He had heart,the drive and he knew the danger he was getting into. He died a honourable soldier. And you sure earned the place on Normandy, you are driven, you have the heart and I am sure as hell you have a good motive to Put a bullet between that sun of a bitch. You earned it" 

Shephard wasn't sure about placing his hand on her this time. But she didn't seem to bother. He tried his best to let her know that she was good for this ship. 

Ashley heard commander's words, looking at his gazing eyes the entire time. She felt that she was with her own squad. Even if they were dead. She felt so welcomed , for a moment her guilty has gone away. 

"Thanks Commander. I appreciate that"

"How're you holding up? Things were pretty messed up down there. You okay? " 

Shepard asked if he could help her about her losses. Dealing with that could be difficult. But to his surprise she was handling it well. Trying to keep a straight face. She says

"I've seen friend die before. Comes with being a marine. " She let out a sigh as she continued  
" But to see your entire unit wiped out...and you never get use to seeing dead civilians. But things could have been lot more worse if you hadn't shown up." Her eyes filled with gratitude. Shepard could see it in her eyes. 

" Couldn't done it without you Williams. If it was just me and LT. We couldn't even save the civilians we saved along the way. That is why you belong in Normandy"

Seeing her face light up. His heart filled with happiness. But he couldn't think why?. Maybe because she was like him. Or she reminded him of Jane. 

"Thanks Commander, I have to admit. I worried about being assigned to the Normandy. But it's nice when someone makes you feel welcome." 

She looked at him sincerely thanking not only with words but also with her amber eyes. 

" I think you will be fit here just fine Williams. " Shepard said with a reassuring voice as she took his hand from her. As he walked to the stairs he leaned back and said " And Williams, " Making her head pivot to his direction " If you ever want to talk, I'm here okay? " 

He didn't have to say that but he felt like it. His heart felt warm towards this woman like a moth to a candle. And She was surprised that someone like Commander Shepard was looking out for her. She couldn't help but feel more secure and sincere when she heard those words. 

Needless to say little spark had formed up between them. Like they were destined to be more than Commander and Chief. And they both could feel them. Both of them went their separate ways feeling both insecure but secure at the same time. Which was if they couldn't understand. But both of them wished it was not the end. And oh boy, they were not wrong.


	3. Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So in this chapter, there will be less in-game dialogues. Most of it is fan fiction and I think you'll enjoy it. 
> 
> As always bioware owns all.

The Normandy was about one hour away from the Citadel. After the meeting with captain Anderson , Shepherd was looking at chief Williams's file. Despite the crappy assignments like patroling a farming colony, finding some missing equipments she and her entire unit haven't had the opportunity to show what they were capable of. 

**After sometime**

Now that council is somewhat in Shepard's side and the new Spectre status he's given, he was ready to persue the rogue Spectre. Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan were making their way through the Citadel embassy lounges as Captain Anderson was waiting for him near the docks. Since they got some time to kill, and possibly this was Ashley's first time on citadel they figured they could give her a tour.

Ashley was still mesmerized by the scenery she had never seen before. The giant arms of citadel which could withstand a full frontal assault, the mass relay statue, the giant krogan statue and all the other fun stuff.... until she met a familiar face. She saw an Indian man in a brown-ish coloured suit looking for someone or something, she couldn't remember exactly who it was or if she knew him. Since they were going that way she figured she could get a closer look at him. 

" Commander Shepard.... Commander Shepard..? Could I please have a moment of your time please?"

The man had almost a begging sound in his voice and Shepard could not resist it. The man had his hands together almost like he was praying and was very humble. Ashley's memories kicked in as she remembered seeing him somewhere, maybe in one of the colonies she worked on? 

"Can I help you?" Shepard walked over to the man and asked gently. The man was clearly in grief, maybe his relative died in the attack, so he wouldn't want to be rude. 

"Sir, My name is Samesh Batia. My wife was on Eden prime served in 212...." 

"You're Nirali Bhatia's husband aren't you? I was in her unit. I'm Chief Ashley Williams." 

Ashley interrupted the man as she remembered who it was. It was her best friend's husband. The person who is the reason now she was alive. She had sudden urge to apologize about she leaving Nirali as the geth prime tore her apart. But could not finish that thought..

"Yes.. Chief Williams, My wife talked with a such honor about you...In fact I need to help her..."

Those words catched her off guard cause she clearly remembered the geth tore her apart. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe Nirali did survive but She left her there. Her head was aching like a bubble trying to explode. 

" Tell me..If there is anything I can do, I will do it" Shepard's voice brought her back from her memories. He was very sincere to this man who had never seen before. That was an unusual sight even for Kaidan. 

"Yes Sir...They wouldn't release my wife's body for me. I want to give her a proper burial but they wouldn't let me. Could you please help me Commander? "

"Who wouldn't release your wife's body ?" 

"The alliance officer who is in charge of that kind of stuff...I begged him but he wouldn't listen. I thought if you talked to him he would listen. Last time I saw him he was in that expensive bar there." 

Samesh pointed at the Embassy lounges as he was talking. Ashley was still shaken by the thought of leaving her best friend just to be killed by geths. She could've fight for her. The thoughts have misted( might not be a word but I still use it) her mind. 

Shepard was infuriated by this man's news. The alliance was never like this before. Holding dead bodies hostage? He rushed to the Embassy to find the responsible man. He was merely a young officer one can tell that he never worked on the field. Ashley was really mad but before she could do anything Shepard grabbed officer from the neck and held him to the wall.

"Where is Nirali Bhatia's body? Who gave you the right to keep her body from her husband?" 

"But...But sir..We are keeping her for...for a reason" The young officer was stuttering his words because one. Clearly he was choking and two It was Daniel Fucking Shepard who was infuriated. 

"Must be a hell of a reason to not give her a proper burial! What is it? Is she incarcerated or something? "

Ashley wanted to tell him that she saw Nirali was torn apart and her body parts won't be able to recognised. But then again what does she know anymore??

" No sir...We are conducting an experiment on her body....The wound on her body can tell us lot more about the weapons the geth were using. This could help us in the future greatly. I think you will understand sir " 

Shepard loosened his grip as he reached for his Assault rifle. And pointed at the officer who was trying not to duck so hard. 

"Which gives you no right to hold her body hostage. Wounds won't tell you what is the weapon and what are they using, they just tell us how far that damn guns can fire through OUR alliance soldiers. And if you want to study,... Study this asshole!" 

Shepard shoved his AR which he picked up on Eden Prime. T'was a plasma rifle one of the geth was using and who killed by Shepard. He leaned on young officer's face and..

"See that Nirali Bhatia and All the other bodies are released TODAY! Or you will be dealing with me. " 

"Yes sir ..I will see in to that myself sir. It was hard enough to tell her husband. I'm not gonna make an incidence with you sir." 

The young officer was practically shaking. Shepard and Kaidan walked away back to the Embassy entrance to find samesh Bhatia sitting on a bench nearby. They were waiting for Ashley since she wanted to ask something from the good little officer. 

"Excuse me...Can I ask something?" She asked 

"S...sure ma'am what do you wanna know. I told commander that the bodies will be shipped to the earth today"

"Yes...thank you for that and no I wanted to know about Nirali's body. Wasn't it torn apart?? "

"No Ma'am....her leg was shot and there were couple more in her body. We found out another colonist's body torn apart though"

Ashley's heart sinked to hell, she felt like she was blacking out and her heart was going to come out and run away. Completely shaken, she returned to Shepard and Kaidan to give samesh the news. 

The trio found samesh and Let him know that his wife was coming home. 

"Thank you commander." The man Said very sincerely " At least this will give me some peace. I will get back to earth and arrange her Funeral. Thank you commander. "

"Samesh wait." It was Ashley. " I wanted to tell you. Your wife loved you so much. She played records of you before going to bed every night. I'm not sure if this helps but I wanted you to know." Her heart was still shaken by the news officer gave her. But still managed to get some words out of her. 

"I know Miss. But it's still nice to hear someone say that. She always treated you like a daughter. Like a daughter she never had. She loved you so much. She will be glad to know that you made it alive. " Samesh gave a grateful smile and walked away.

However...Those words hurt Ashley even more. Samesh did not intended that but she couldn't forget if she had tried to rescue Nirali, she could be alive right now. Mr.Samesh could have his wife back. If she had stayed.......


	4. Demons II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a continuation of the previous chapter. Not many lines from the game here either. And I still suck at summaries
> 
> Bioware owns all

After The Normandy was given to Commander Shepard as his Spectre ship, his first priority was to find what Saren is after. Now that they know metriarch Benezia is working for him her daughter would be the best lead to go after. Since it takes about three days to travel to the Arghos Rho cluster, Shepard thought it would be best to talk to Ashley. 

Ash was still in shock by past days findings. The thought of leaving her Friend behind haunted her head over and over again, each time creating much more pain than before. But despite all that she still kept a Collected look. She didn't want to anybody to know what was going in her head. But she knew somehow Shepard will know. He had the same experience on Akuze before and on Mindoir. But she still determined not to tell anything.....

Shepard first went to see how is the crew is doing under the new Captain's command. The crew couldn't be more helpful and everybody congratulated him. The ship was in her prime conditions and everybody was happy, except about the aliens wrex, Tali and Garrus. But he figured they will come along. 

After sometime talking with Dr. Chakwas about Ashley and her condition Shepard made it to the elevators and to the Stock area. Ashley had made her sort of ships Gun handler or something as she worked on her workbench near the squad lockers. Shepard was quick to see that she was depressed, sad and somewhat angry. My god he could read this woman like a book. But instead of giving her advice he wanted her to tell him about the problems. So he wouldn't be pushy. 

"Chief Williams, gotta minute?" Shepard walked over to her and asked silently so only she could hear.

"Commander" was the only thing came out of her mouth. He could sense the troubles in her head. 

"Past days have been rough. How are you holding up? About Eden prime and everything?" 

"Kind of wish you got there sooner, Commander" Her voice was shaky. She was trying so hard not let any drop of tear drop out of her eyes. 

" No offense, I appreciate the rescue.....But I just wish......." Her voice cracked in the last second. One more word she could cry out loud. But she was tough as nails. She hung up and kept her strong face on.

"That we'd been able to save the rest of your squad?" 

Shepard finished her sentence for her. He could see that her eyes was soggy. But he didn't want to break her. She was still standing as a rock. And he respected that. 

"Yes sir" She sighed. " If I'd been more alert, we wouldn't been cut downed by an ambush". 

She was quick to blame herself for everything. Even if she didn't do it. Shepard saw it before. And knew that it was a defence mechanism she used every time. He could not let her do that.

"The geth are perfect ambushers. They don't eat, they don't move they don't make noise, they don't even breath" 

He thought this would keep her from blaming herself. He didn't know why but he was scared for her. Blaming herself could go far as she sacrificing herself to redeem herself. But....she had a comeback for everything

" Sir they have flashlight heads" (so they do... Shepard thought to himself) "But I'll make sure that doesn't happen again" 

she was filled with anger and her brows formed like a collapsed drawbridge. Shepard thought this would be the best time to talk to her. 

"Do you have sometime to talk? One on one?"

"Sorry commander, I need to get my duties squared away" 

she quickly brushed off the commander. Her eyes were sparkling not because she was happy to see him. But because of waters trying to escape her amber eyes. Shepard caught that look she gave him and decided to give her sometime. As he was ready to turn away Ashley gave a little sigh knowing that he is only trying to help. 

"I wouldn't mind talking more, later though" she said with a almost playful voice. She couldn't tell if she was being flirty or not cause after seeing how Shepard stood up for one of her squamates she had a massive respect for him. 

The Spectre knew that when she was ready she will talk. And in any way he would be glad to help her. So he decided to let her take her time. 

"Dismissed Chief"   
"Sir" 

The two of them were very formal in every way. As it should be. At least in the presence of other crewmen. 

[Later that night]

Ashley was running through a plain surface. She is familiar with this ground and yet she can't remember nor what is she running from. But Something was coming after her so she kept running. She tripped over Something and fell on to a corpse that was looked very similar to one she knew. The thing was still following her, and she tried to get up and run. But the corpse won't let her. It grabbed her leg and pulled towards it . She immediately recognised the corpse, it was Nirali's. Her(as in Nirali) eyes were hanging from her head, her teeth looked like a meat grinder, her body changed into a husk but still kept her face. She stood up as the other thing joined her...it was the rest of Ashley's squad! They all looked like Nirali. All of them came after Ashley as she laid on the ground helpless, she wanted to scream but no sound came past her mouth. 

"You left us, You killed us" 

A chant ran through the horrifying horde of husks as the came closer and closer to Ashley, but she couldn't do anything. The only thing she could do was say "I'm sorry" but it was no use. The husks reached her and ripped her skin to shreds inch by inch all the time chanting "you left us, you killed us" .  
Ashley screamed as she felt her skin getting ripped and her soul leaving her body. She waked up screaming and bumped her head on the glass of the sleeper pod. She was glad that it was only a nightmare, but she was afraid to go back to sleep. It was still night time in the ship and some of the crew was sleeping besides her. It is not her shift but no way she is going back to sleep. So she opened her sleeper pod and wore her BDU pants and made her way to the kitchen area. 

Shepard was till up as he was the commander and he had to check up on everything. Besides every time he closed his eyes the nightmares came flowing like lava. Slowly but painfully. He never slept much after the incidence besides the work kept him busy. Dr. Chakwas still gave him stim shots whenever he requested despite the fact it was not good for him. She was worried about his insomnia but even more worried about his mental state because of the nightmares. So she kept her mouth shut and do what she had to do. 

Ashley reached the kitchen to make some tea or cocoa to calm her nerves. Alcohol could make this a lot easier but she didn't want to wake up with a hungover next day. She walked silently as she didn't wore any shoes because she didn't want to anybody to notice her. But she was too late.

"Williams? What are you doing up this late?"   
The voice startled her and she almost jumped to take down who was behind him. And she was glad she didn't. It was Shepard looking worried at her as she turned to him.

"Commander....I just....I'm ...I'm not.." Ashley Stuttered her words because she was still shaken from the nightmares. Shepard noticed this and closed the distance between them. 

" Having trouble sleeping I guess??" He looked at her sincerely like looking at his own sister but a bit more caring. 

"Yes. Sir" she gulped her words as she thought she was in trouble for wandering around after the hours. But this was Shepard, he looked at her like his equal and said she could talk to him anytime. And this time was good as any. 

" Williams, you don't have to be formal when it's just the two of us. You can call me Daniel " 

Shepard stated thinking that this would close the tension between them as he saw Ashley's body tensed up 

"Yes ,sir...I mean Shepard" she smiled and said to him. " I just had a really bad nightmare and thought I could use some tea to calm me. " She looked at Shepard with a quizzled look " What are 'you' doing up this late Shepard?" 

'Last names huh? It's okay, we're getting somewhere' Shepard thought to himself.

" Yeah...plus I am the captain now...so I kind of have to be up to check how's the crew doing" Shepard lied through his teath and Ashley could easily tell that.

" If you don't tell joker, I could help with your problem." Shepard said whispering causing Ashley to think he had some red sand stashed away somewhere. 

Shepard noticed her look and immediately figured out she was concerned.   
"No...no nothing like that! " He said immediately as he knew she was thinking he had something like that  
" It's just 'genuine earth cocoa' I found that joker was hiding from us. I have used them ever since and he still wonders who's duinit." Shepard said with a small grin on his face and managed to make one on Ashley's face as well. 

" In that case I say bottoms up cowboy" Ashley forgot her troubles for the small time she was with Shepard. He had this power of making everyone around him forget their troubles and she was glad for it. 

Meanwhile Shepard had made some Coco and offered one of the cups to Ashley.

" No small marshmallows? " She made a sad gesture on her face and asked playfully. It was amazing that she forgot about her demons in so little time with him. 

" Joker eats therm from the pack and you figure out the rest " the two of them shared a laugh as both of them needed it. 

" So what happened ? Nightmares?" Shepard opened his mouth as he took a sip of warm Coco

"Mmhmmm...." Ashley lowered her voice and remembered them.

" I know the feeling, I had several nightmares since Mindoir and Akuze was not helping" 

Ashley forgot that he was hurting more than her. He lost her family,his friends on Mindoir and his second family on Akuze. But here he is , trying to keep her from falling to the same path. 

" I'm sorry...." She touched his hand on the table. And she didn't knew it until she realised and quickly retracted her hand back. But Shepard didn't mind at all. In fact he was happy. A smile lit up his face and dimmed as she took her hand. 

" Yeah...It gets easy over the time. You just have to learn to forgive yourself." Shepard sighed " It was my job to get them to safety. But I couldn't...and that cost me my second family. The best damn comrades I ever worked with. " He continued

Ashley was looking at him as his face turned down. His blue eyes getting soggy. She put her hand on his hand again. Intentionally this time. 

" You can't blame yourself for it. You couldn't have done anything to save them. If you did that thresher maw could've killed you too. Your friends wanted 'you' to survive. Don't let them down Daniel!" 

It was the first time she said his first name and she was right, she said the exact words that had in Shepard's mind.

"So should you Ashley....You can't blame yourself for what happened to your squad" 

"Yeah but....This is different" she looked away but not taking hand from Shepard. He put his other hand on her other hand.

"You can't say that. You didn't led them to the ambush. You didn't know the geth was there. How could you know. They are perfect ambushers. And you did everything you could've to save your team. " 

She collapsed her hands against her chest. And looked away as her eyes watered. 

"No I didn't...." She sighed. "Nirali Bhatia...I left her Daniel. I thought she was dead but she was not. I left her Shepard I left her. " She sobbed as she was confessing like a murderer. Shepard could not withstand to see her like this. He stood from.his chair and closed distance between them. He kneeled down before her and put a hand on her shoulder.

" You remember What Mr Bhatia said? " He asked. Ash nodded while she was still crying.

" She treated you like a daughter. She was like a mother to you. And mothers always try to keep her children safe. " 

Shepard also remembered that his mother was holding him and his sister on Mindoir. But this is not the time. He shaked this memories as he tried to sooth her.

"That's what she did there. She sacrificed herself so you can survive. It's motherly love. Like what they did to me on Akuze......And I figured the best way to respect them and commemorate them was not to mourn about their deaths...but to enjoy the time we spent together. That way they will be always with me. Everything I do...every step I take...they help me...and so should you.."   
Shepard touched her face to wipe out the tears and looked at her. She was grateful. She hugged him as tight as she could all the while sobbing. Despite she was a soldier...she was still a girl. And he didn't mind. He kept her as her sobbing stopped and cried herself to sleep.


	5. Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not really proud about this chapter but I think it will be good enough?? 
> 
> Bioware owns all .

Ashley had never slept like this after she left home for service. She grabbed the blanket from both sides and wrapped around her. But then she remembered, they don't have blankets in sleeper pods. She waken up strictly like a spring and took a look around the room. She didn't recognize it as a part of the Normandy. She hit herself a little to see if this was a dream. Her pants were gone and only her black undershorts remained. 

"Well Good morning miss Williams. I hope you slept well? " 

She startled as she heard Shepard's cheesy voice. She was in Shepard's chamber on his bed in her undies. She was beyond embarrassed and her cheeks started to blush. She turned around to find Shepard on his desk looking at her with a stupid grin on his face.

" Did I....I mean did we....are we..." She blushed again and couldn't find words to describe what is happening.

" Yeah...." Still with the grin..." And it was wonderful" Shepard said.

"Oh my god. ..." Ashley put her face on the pillow trying to suffocate herself from her embarrassment. While she heard Shepard laughing like a idiot.

" I was just kidding...." Still laughing " You just fell asleep after crying and I brought you back here. I couldn't get leave you there anyway. " 

"But...but why didn't you put me on my sleeping pod and where are my pants" looking under the covers she asked. 

" Yeah...the way you hugged me I was lucky to get you to the bed. You were like a Krogan when you are hugging. And here are your BDUs." Shepard pointed at the clothes he brought back from her locker. 

"And why is my pants gone?????" She said with a daring look on her face thinking something has happened.

"In the dry cleaner...You spilled Coco all over it. " 

She gave him the look again. This time twise the intensity.

"Okay...I spilled the Coco as I was picking you up. Sorry" His grin reached his ears. One could see his entire mouth.

" Well I sure hope you enjoyed the scenery because that is not happening again" Ashley replied with a playful voice.

" We'll see about that.....Now chop chop....you are getting late for your duties miss Williams. And take my assault rifle. So joker won't start spreading we're sleeping together" 

" Technically...we did slept together didn't we...'Commander'" Ashley teased him a little. And noticed that the couch had turned into a small bed and immediately regretted that. 

" Well now.... getting any ideas there Chief?" Shepard shot back. She gave him the perfect thing to embarrass her for the following weeks. 

Ashley blushed and pushed Shepard to the side as she went to the bathroom to change herself. Shepard got back to his computer and Checked for any news. Ashley had got dressed herself and took the rifle and left the chamber avoiding any eye contact with anyone. 

Kaidan was surprised as he never saw she entering the Captain's room. And decided to tease her a little.

" Good morning Chief. I see you had a very good night" Kaidan granted himself a big smile. 

" Yeah ...I mean yes. I was just came to take look at commander's guns" ' shit that came out wrong' Ashley thought himself. 

Kaidan still had his stupid smile and it grown to even larger one when he saw Shepard walked in to the room.

"I'm sure You did...." He teased her. 

Ashley saw commander and immediately left the room. 

"So commander...I never saw chief Williams entering your room ?" He began to tease Shepard. 

"I called her in. My assault rifle was having trouble with the heat sink and figured she could help me. " Shepard ignored the tease of LT..and continued  
"Which reminds me....put Williams in duty of Weapons and equipments. She has quite the experience about them." Shepard immediately regretted that. Cause yeah....That came out really wrong.

" I'm sure she has Commander. " LT said with the stupid grin he had before. 

******************************************************

After rescuing Dr. T'soni, the Normandy was heading back to the Citadel as ship suffered some minor damage to the hull because of the volcano. Shepard connected with the Council and gave a report of what happened down there. The council was somewhat happy... although the prothean ruin got destroyed. Since it take about two or 36 hours to reach the Citadel the crew had some downtime.

Shepard walked over to the front of the ship , where joker is located. 

"So commander....I heard that Chief Williams is quite the woman with guns." Joker said as he saw commander coming towards him. 

" Yes. She is a soldier afterall. We all get basic training on how to handle them. You fly boys don't know about them" Shepard joked. 

Joker and Shepard went on few missions together and the two of them was like brothers. Joker being the perverted Humorous one and Shepard being more serious bigger one. But the two of them almost had nothing to hide. 

"I see....No wonder why you called her to check 'your' guns then...." Joker said with his perverted voice, teasing commander. 

Shepard looked at him a bit surprised but kept his cool. 

"Yeah...I had a problem with my heatsink. " 

"I'm sure you did commander. You know...as pilot I get to see almost everywhere in the ship...day and night" joker said with witty look.on his face. And that took Shepard with surprised.

"What do you mean everywhere?.... Don't tell me you have been spying on women's room again?" Shepard shot back.

" No...No...what do you think I'm a pervert?"

"I don't have to think. I know you are"

"Guilty as charged. But no I swear. I disconnected them after the Stella incident.See??" Joker pointed at two of the panels on his left .

"Mmmhmmm.... Chief Williams won't be so nice as Stella if she caught you staring at her ass Joker." 

"Okay okay...It won't happen again. I promise"

The two of them talked for few minutes. And Shepard left to see how's Ashley doing. He rode the elevator back to the stock area to find Gunny working on her workbench. But she was not there.   
He touched his comm unit to talk to her but there was no answer. He was afraid that she was angry because what happened the night before.

"Joker...do you see where is chief Williams?" 

"No sir. Her palm print registered going to the ladies room an hour ago though." 

Shepard made his way to the ladies room. The door was closed and he heard a little mourn coming from inside. Sound like someone is hurt. Either Ashley was hurt after the Volcano escape or......I don't have to tell.

"Williams...are you in there? Are you okay" Shepard banged on the door but there was nothing. "Ashley...are you okay in there?"   
Still no answer. He was afraid for the worst and overrided the lock and got inside. He was hoping he was wrong but was not. Ashley was moaning in pain grabbing her crotch area. There was no blood or swelling and he couldn't tell what happened. He tried to grab her gently but she was still in pain. He had to do something, he looked at Ashley and asked   
"May I ?"   
Ashley nodded in return telling him that it was okay. He grabbed her pants and pulled down slowly revealing the infected area. Her left thigh near to her crotch was shot with a chemical round and it was spreading fast. He grabbed some of his Medi-Gel and put some on her area. The gel quickly worked its way and Ashley felt somewhat better. Shepard picked up her and quickly marched to the med bay to give her proper care. 

" Good timing Shepard, five more seconds and it could've moved to her kidneys causing cancer." 

Shepard didn't know why that skipped his heart a bit and shook him a little. Ashley? Having cancer? The thought of it made his skin crawl and he couldn't figure out why. 

"Is she going to be Okay Doc?" Shepard asked with a seriously concerned look and this was new for Chakwas. She was happy for him that he had found someone who cares about.

" Don't worry Shepard, she'll be alright in few hours. The medi gel really helped to fight the infection and I gave her some antibiotics. The medication will kick in after few seconds. We should let her rest. " 

Doctor explained to him and Shepard was glad to hear it. But still....a Cancer? He could not get that idea out of his mind.   
' What should I do? ' he thought to himself  
' what if this happens again? What if I lost her? Why do I care about her so much? ' The answer was clearly on his mind but he did not want to believe it. Was he falling for her? He couldn't tell. But he certainly couldn't withstand the idea of losing her. 

After sometime... 

Ashley had woken up and was still in medbay. She doesn't remember much but she remembered how she felt when Shepard was taking care of her. She felt she could rely on this man for anything. She felt warmth like she never felt before. And she certainly couldn't wait to see him again. 

Not to disappoint her the medbay doors opened and there was he. Looking at her like some kind of princess. 

" Enjoy your beauty sleep princess? " Shepard teased her a little. 

" I certainly am....Look at me I'm glowing" She laughed back. 

" Yeah I can see that....by the way I didn't know you shaved" Shepard teased her with a large grin on his face. He couldn't help it. The two of them exchanged such perverted jokes all the time for the past few days and this was not new for them.

" Well a girl have to be Clean" she shot back.   
" Most guys buy me dinner or a drink before getting into my pants." She teased him. 

" Well now....I am not most guys am I ?" He raised one eyebrow and smirked at her a little. 

"Anyway...I brought you some food. You must be starving. " Shepard put some plates on her bed and grabbed a chair to sit besides her .

" Wow Shepard, who knew that our first date would be in the medbay? " She punched Shepard's shoulder playfully. But she certainly blushed a little. 

" Well I have to make myself unique somehow you know. Some people have picnics under the stars, some go to movies, I carry girls to medbay and give them fish and chips for dinner" Both laughed as they cracked jokes about each other. 

" By the way....How did you got shot in there- The most protected area of your armour???" Shepard asked curiously cause that was true. 

" I had a little girl problem down there and had to remove one layer. You know...for the padding to fit"   
Ash's cheeks turned red as she told Shepard her special day of the month. 

" Okay....I'm done with the Sauce. You can have it. And now that I know that...I'm never leaving you alone for the next days" 

" Fine by me if you could keep up 'Commander'" 

" Oh you'll see what I can do 'Gunny' "


	6. First date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of paragraphs more than dialogues today. Hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Bioware owns all

Ashley was disassembling her Lancer II pistol at her workbench now that Dr. Chakwas has given her permission to leave the med bay, under the condition that she will get back at the end of the day for a check-up. Ashley was ready to say that she will be within earshot with commander Shepard if she can leave. She was never a girl that who likes to lay back and do nothing. She always try to get things done. Better done than perfect was her motto. But considering her condition she could understand why the good doctor had to be concerned about her. Besides Shepard checks up on her so much that he himself can give doctor Chakwas a medical report on her. 

And like clockwork Shepard came back to check up on her. 

" How're you doing Williams? " Shepard asked her as he approached her with a little something in his hands. 

" Nothing new commander after your last visit like half an hour ago. " 

Ashley's little snarky comment led Shepard to make a chuckle himself.

" Well I'm glad to hear that. So whatcha working on? A new recoil dampener or something? " 

Shepard asked curiously because Ashley was disassembling the weapon and trying to stick something on the kinetic buffer tube. 

" Yeah. I picked up this on the last trip, it's a good gun but it kicks like a wild horse. I was just tryin to stick a recoil dampener in here but that doesn't seem to fit in here. " She talked as she tried to bang it into place. 

" Here. Lemme take a look at that" Shepard put his package on the desk and took a look at her rifle. 

" Ah...This thing doesn't support recoil dampener 2 slots. It has RD 3 slots. That's why you can't put it there. But I think if you put a Kinetic Stabilizer IV on this badboy and it'll run like a baby"

Shepard's explaination took Ashley surprise and could tell her by the look of her face. 

" Why the creepy face miss Williams?" Shepard asked with a smirk on his face. 

" My My Daniel....never knew that you know so much about guns. Too bad you cannot shoot like me but bravo Commander" Ashley teased Shepard a little. 

Shepard quickly looked around because Ashley called him by his first name. She maybe forgot or she was onto something but he didn't want any other crew members to know about them. Not that there was something between them but both of them knew that there was little something forming between the two. 

" Is that a challenge Chief? " Shepard raised an eyebrow at her. Ashley was still giggling at Shepard. 

" Well if you brave enough to lose, we can set a competition at C-Sec academy." Ashley continued to tease Shepard.

" Okay...Then it's a date!" Shephard didn't realize that he said the 'Date' a little bit louder. 

The Stock area was filled with akward silence as everyone looked at them with awed faces. Even the krogan warmaster was surprised. Ashley's cheeks began to blush and she covered her face with her hand nodding regrettably at Shepard. 

"We'll see who's better in the C-Sec competition" .  
And just like that..the whole crew got to know about the competition between the two of them.

* * *

The C-Sec was crowded with Normandy crew and fellow C-Sec officers. Few alliance soldiers and officers also came to watch. 

The two competitors stood side by side behind the the shooting range. The competition was formed with three rounds, the sniper round, the AR round and the transition round. Both of them was equipped with the same weapons for balancing. 

Shepard looked around and there was lots and lots of people. Garrus was talking with some of his C-Sec buddies. Tali was on the platform above with Liara at her side who's eyes were fixated on Shepard. _That's weird_ Shepard thought to himself. Joker was sitting with Kaidan rooting for Shepard as he looked at him. Wrex was leaning on to a wall. 

Ashley saw some of the alliance high officials was here as well. She was nervous but focused. Some of her buddies from bootcamp was rooting for her but running eyes all around Shepard's body. She double checked her weapons as she always does. She looked at Shepard who was doing the same thing. Shepard looked at her and winked like saying 'Good luck, You'll do fine. ' . And for whatever reason it calmed her down. 

Three beeps on the clock and the round started. Both of the competitors were very focused as they took targets down one by one. Each one of them were headshots or critical hits so the score was basically the same. 

The round was simple yet so fast paced. The two of them was neck to neck. The objective was to shoot the target before they hit you. Shepard's targets were outlined with red and Ashley's were blue. Each one must shoot their own respectable targets, if one shoots at the other one's target the score was deducted from him or her. 

The first round came to an end as they both ended up on a tie. Both of them were quite exhausted from holding breath. Two of them shook hands and went for a little break. 

" Not bad for a beginner Shepard." Ashley teased him.

" This....this was nothing" Shepard shot back

"Alright then, in the next round I won't go easy on ya" 

"I'd expect nothing less from you chief. Hope you ready to loose. " Shepard said with a stupid grin on his face. 

"I'll buy you dinner for you If you win" Ashley shot back.

"I'll buy you dinner and a bottle of whiskey if you win missy" 

"Oh ho ho You're on _'Commander'_ " Ashley kept teasing him. 

The round two started as they grabbed a snack and rested for a little while. This was a hostage scenario. So there was more risk than before. The two of them pocked up their weapons and started annihilating targets one by one. 

Ashley was more focused and determined to win now that liquor was on the table. She quickly shot three targets right in the head scoring triple shot. Shepard was second to none, as he shredded through enemies. He took a shot, single bullet hit two hostiles and the second one went right up on another one's head as he finished. This round was more intense than the first round. Both of them were neck to neck again but nobody was backing down. 

The crowd went nuts as the competition went on, Garrus even started betting who would win. And the second round finished with putting Ashley on the first place. Still crowd was rooting for Shepard but nonetheless she kept her cool. 

The third round was just about to start, some of the crew went to grab drinks and the C-Sec officers had to go on their duties. It was just few of th crewmen and alliance soldiers. Shepard looked at Ashley, she kept looking at the alliance officers repeatedly like she was under a test or something , which can be true judging by how they treated her just because her name. But Shepard didn't know that but he could say she was nervous. Siren went on as to announce that the round three was about to start. 

This round was transition round, first they have to use their assault rifle and take down six target at hundred metres, then the have to transit to their snipers and take down four targets at four hundred metres. The targets would be smaller to make them look like at four hundred metres because the range wasn't that long. And last they have to take out their shotguns and shoot down three targets and instantly turn to their pistol and take down a single target holding a hostage before they shoot them.

The round started and bullets flew over the range. Ashley was going in respective order and took targets one by one where Shepard put his N7 training to the test where he transit targets between shots. Six targets went down quickly and they took out their snipers and took targets down with precision and determination. Ashley was quick to shoot from target to target where she did little breathing and took a shot and repeated herself.   
Shepard was more into taking his time and taking the best shot to mark enemies. 

"Amateurs" Garrus stated as he was watching them. 

The targets went down Ashley being in the first place and shotguns came into play. This was not Ashley's strong suit but was Shepards. He took no time between shots as he tore down targets. Ash never backed down and shot down two targets at once and kept going. And at the end of the round Shepard and her was neck to neck again. Shepard took his pistol out the same time as Ashley, as he took a quick look at her, he saw frustration. Maybe it was because the officials were watching. 

Three shots took place and Shepard was in the first place. The crowd chanted Shepard's name as he was the victor. A C-Sec officer came to announce Shepard's victory but before that Shepard went to the officer who was controling the cameras and talked with him a bit. 

Ashley was exhausted and was resting on the bench near the galley with a disappointed look on her face. Her boot camp buddies came to her to make her feel better. Garrus came upto Shepard and said 

"Thank you Shepard, you made me quite the fortune"   
Collecting his bet money. 

Ashley was feeling definitely disappointed as she never lost in a shooting competition in her life. She looked at the officials and they were congratulating Shepard. Like this was some big tournament. 

"I have to make an announcement" 

A voice heard over the speakers, Ashley raised her head and looked who was it. It was Shepard holding the mic.

" Great! Now he's gonna boast about how he beat me." Ashley mumbled to her friends with a frowning face.

"It's clear that who was the winner here today, but....that is a complete lie. Jonas if you can "   
Shepard signalled at the young officer and a video screen came up. 

" If this was just a competition, then I am the winner by the score. As you can see.....But...If this was a real scenario I would be dead if Chief Williams hadn't done this" 

The video started to play. It was the last second of the third round both of them were shooting their pistols. Ashley looked closely as it showed that Shepard's bulled missed the target by an centimetre and her shot pierced his targets head. She did not remember doing that but it happened. 

"As you can see...I am not the true winner. If not for chief Williams, I would be dead meat. She could let me get shot and win the competition but she decided not to. So if someone deserves this win. It's her."

Shepard looked at Ashley with his grateful eyes and somehow Ashley saw a hint of trickery in his smile.   
Ash looked at everybody, and they was silent. Joker started chanting "Ashley, Ashley" and crowd followed him. Shepard came to her and lifted her up as she began to enjoy her victory. 

"Looks like I have to buy you dinner" Shepard said with a grin on his face

"Yeah I think Noveria has a place with great sushi. And don't forget the vodka" Ashley said childishly as he jumped on Shepard's shoulder.

"He he... Don't get cocky Gunny. You're not allowed to drink on duty" 

" I can save it for when I'm off duudi" 

" You got drunk just from mentioning vodka, imagine what would it be like when you're actually drunk " Shepard laughed as he drawing drunk Ashley on his mind. 

Ashley looked around as she was carried by Shepard, everyone was supportive to her even the high ranking officers saluted to her. For the first time she felt good. 

**Later that evening....**

Ashley was going up to the bridge as she heard Joker and Kaidan chatting about something.

" I'm telling you man , he never misses his final shot on a competition. And with a PISTOL" it was joker.

"Maybe the pressure got into his head" 

"Are you kidding, I've seen him before. Never loses a gunfight. Specially with a Freaking pistol" 

"Why ? What's up with him and pistols?" 

"He trained in infiltration LT, he was best at his class and What's the weapon of choice of infiltrators?" 

"So you're saying he missed it on purpose?" 

"Yeah, I think he has a thing for Chief. And to lose in front of Heckett? It must be a damn good one." 

Ashley quickly remembered how he looked at her and he winked at her when he saw she was nervous.   
_Did he really do that for me?_  
She kept thinking about it when she ran into Shepard along the way with a smile.

"Ah... Chief Williams, I hope you like cold whiskey because we're going to Noveria next"


	7. New day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not proud of this chapter. Probably the worst one yet. But I needed to post something. Couldn't give the exact ending I wanted but I think I did okay. Hope you enjoy. Thank you. 
> 
> P.s. I still suck at summaries. Bioware owns all.

The Normandy was about an hour away from reaching the Horse head nebula cluster. If everything goes according to the plan, they could know what is Saren looking for and stop him before he could find it. Commander Shepard talked with joker making sure no surprises was to happen when they dock at Noveria. 

"So commander, I thought you never lost a pistol round in any shooting competition? " Joker asked commander as to gossip a little. 

" Yeah...." Shepard paused a little as he tried to forge an answer that doesn't let joker any ideas about how he felt about Ashley. 

"I think the pressure got to me...you know everyone is watching, admiral Heckett was there judging my every step" He calmly continued thinking it'll shut joker up.

" It's amazing that you fight dozens of assholes everyday on some of the most hostile planets of the traverse and never lose a single gunfight but loose a targets head by exactly a centimetre in the safest place in the traverse." Joker smirked a little as he looking at the screen before him.

"What are you saying joker?" Shepard asked with a serious voice and that shook joker a little. 

"I'm just sayin' it must be a helluva pressure to shoot a target to miss exactly by a centimetre" Joker continued to grin suspiciously.

"Well, everyone has bad days Joker" Shepard stated and backed away because if he spent another second there, joker is going to make Shepard and Ashley the couple of the month. 

Shepard walked down the stairs to see how the crew  
Is doing. He needed to check up on Liara after Therum, Kaidan seemed a little off for some reason, Tali was hanging in the engine room and he wanted to assure no funny business is going on, wrex must be bored to hell because he didn't got to blow up anything since Therum, earlier Garrus told him that he modified the mako a little and he had to check up on that, and Ashley...well he needed to see her how she's doing and suddenly remembered that yesterday he was going to give her a gift but never did. He definitely need to give her that. 

Ashley was still thinking about the conversation between joker and Kaidan.  
 _Did Shepard really lose on purpose? Why did he do it? Did he see that I was nervous? I can't decide if I'm mad or grateful._

Either way, she was happy, admiral Heckett even nodded at her in appreciation. Anyway she got back to her desk to work on Shepard's Katana III sniper. The man was a damn good shot but never cleaned his rifle properly. All the sudden her hand knocks down a box which stood besides her cleaning tools. She picked it up figuring it might be something Jonas ordered so she puts it back on the desk only to see that it was addressed to her. She looked at the package, well sealed looks like a shoe box but slightly bigger in width. It was not wrapped like a Christmas present or any other present , was all black. She remembered that the day before Shepard had a box with him when they ended up challenging each other, this was that box. He was trying to give her something. She put it back like when it's found knowing that Shepard will be back to check up on her because Dr. Chakwas made him sorta her personal medical caretaker.

And like clockwork the elevator doors opened and Shepard was in the other side. Shepard took a look around as he stepped out of the elevator. Jonas was still looking at some of his ledger books, Garrus was working on the MAKO like always and wrex was leaning on a cabinet. Ashley was as usual at her desk treating guns like babies. He made a mental note that he need to talk to his crew so he can get to know them better but first things first Ashley had to be given her gift. He walked towards her as she turned her head to the sound of the foot steps. Put down the tools and leaned to the table. 

" Hey Shepard, quite the show there- guess you owe me a dinner and a bottle of earth's finest " she smiled and said as Shepard looked at her and smiled back.

" Well I really hope you like Chinese because I know the best place to get best egg rolls in Noveria" Shepard said back as he noticed the box he left there earlier. 

" So what brings you here Commander, you didn't came here to tell me that I have to dress up for our 'Dinner Date' ? Did you? " Ash asked playfully.

" In that cold I'm telling you, you need to wear at leas two sweaters and four underwears. That's not Why I'm here though" Shepard's tone formed in to a serious tone. 

"What do you think about the Asari?" Shepard asked.

" You mean Dr. T'soni? Not sure I buy T'soni's story, about her and her mom not talking. I mean their family right?" Ashley said with a concerned look In her face. 

" Not everyone has a happy family life" Shepard stated.

" I guess not" 

She realized that every family was not like hers. Some families have problems that she can't even imagine her family having. And top of that it was Shepard she was talking to. She felt a little regret that she had reminded him of his family. But Shepard was cool, calm and collected he stood there smiling at Ashley. 

" We'll keep an eye on her , which leads to the other thing. I'm thinking that we should bring her with us when we land on Noveria. I mean she's still Benezia's daughter. If things go south she might be able to maybe help settle things with Benezia. What do you think?" Shepard literally ran through those words. 

" Yeah...I think that's a good idea. Assuming she's good with a gun. " Ashley looked away and said to him. 

" She's a biotic. I'm sure She'll do fine. " Shepard said. 

" Yeah. But don't worry Shepard, I got your back" 

" I've got no doubt Williams. We'll talk later" 

Shepard turned to walk away and suddenly remembered about the gift. He slowly turned her head to look for it and saw it was sitting besides Ashley. 

" Oh I almost forgot, I brought you a little gift yesterday. You know before the shenanigans. " 

Shepard gestured sarcastic face and picked up the box and presented to her.

" A gift? What for ? " She asked back. 

" Well after our chit chat yesterday about your little girly problem I figured this would suit great for you. " 

Ashley opened the gift as Shepard watched her like a dad giving his daughter a Christmas present. It was a Titan V medium armor hard suit. Ashley looked surprised when she saw this because this wasn't alliance issued armour. 

" It's a Titan V medium with a abrasive coating around your crotch area and medical interference IV to apply medi gel directly to your not-so-reportable injuries. " 

Shepard's face lit up like the Eiffel tower when he explained it to her. And seeing her surprised but amazed amber eyes he knew he got what he wanted. 

"But this isn't anything alliance. Hell they couldn't even buy us extra ceramic plates we needed to protect ourselves. How did you get this?" 

Ashley was amazed by the hi-tech armour suit in her hand. She was in love with her phoenix armour but even she could admit that phoenix armour was lack luster. 

" Spectre special Inventory. I thought about what you said yesterday, about your .......little problem down there. This us tough as a nail........ but light like a feather. I had it for sometime but My N7 armour has some soul left in it and I figured you need it the most. " 

"Thank you Shepard. I appreciate it" 

" You know, I always wondered why do you have that pink phoenix armor. The alliance standard armor is blue. " 

" It's just a kind of a gift " Ashley's eyes turned soggy as he remembered who gave it to her. Shepard thought it was her father or someone close to her had given her that. 

" That's a story for another time. Maybe in our dinner date ? " Ashley hid her eyes by closing them and slightly smiling at Shepard. 

" Looking forward to it Chief. Dismissed"

"Yes Sir" 

Shepard walked back to the elevator while thinking how he saw her eyes got soggy when he asked her that. Maybe it was a gift from her old squad. It took all of her strength to bury that conscious just from few days or so he thought. Shepard felt guilty because he thought he opened her old wounds. Tormented by guilt, Shepard got on the elevator to bridge and talked Joker about debriefing.

* * *

The Normandy had docked at port Hanshan. Shepard, Ashley and Liara was greeted by the head of security there and boy they were not happy. Perhaps they thought that council is looking back to their company secrets. Because of Shepard's Spectre status they could carry weapons but in any other case they will be defenceless. But after all the shenanigans the secretary of the president greeted them well but notified them that because of the blizzard, they couldn't get out to the land. So they had to get this pass from President Anoleis himself.

Gianna, Anoleis secretary was nice enough to offer help in any case but the president was the definition of dickhead. He had his head on the clouds and showed no respect or recognition for Shepard, but a little roaming around the office with a gun in hand made him come down to earth, in this case Noveria. 

After their meeting with the dickhead as they walked out Gianna came out with a proposition for them. 

" Commander Shepard, I'm sorry things didn't go your way. But I might be able to help you. Meat me at the hotel for a drink." Gianna said with a suspicious look on her face. 

" And what would that be Miss Paradini? " Shepard asked with a questioning gesture. 

" Look, I can't talk about that here. If you want to get back to your mission meet me there" 

She said with such a hurry with a concerned look on her face. Shepard definitely could sense something fishy in the air. But the dickhead didn't gave him the garage pass so he'll need every help he can get. Shepard turned back to Ashley and raised an eyebrow as in asking if she trusted her. Ashley looked at her with a withering look and nodded at Shepard confirming it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. 

" Alright, I'll meet you there tonight? " Shepard asked. 

" See you then commander"

Gianna greeted goodbye and got back to her work. It was still daytime so they decided to get back to the ship. Along the way the found a hanar in need of a smuggling job. He decided to help since he needed the money and he needed to do something while Ash was not present. So he send them back to the ship and brought hanar his goods. Now there's only one thing left to do and he stepped towards the Liquor shop near the hotel.

**************************************  
Ashley knew that Shepard was doing something sketchy because he didn't want her around him. Yes he was a grown man and a Spectre who able to take down an entire platoon if he was pissed off but yet she always felt that vibe when they were together out there. The affection between them had grown a quite bit in these last days and they were happy because of that. Ashley thought whatever he is doing, he had a reason and when the time comes he will tell her. 

Meanwhile Shepard had gotten into the ship and rushed to his cabin before anyone could see what he was carrying. Shepard placed the package hidden in his bedroom and walked back to the bridge. Everyone was looking at him but after he gave him a glazing stare, all of them got back to work. Shepard walked to Joker who was in the cockpit touching his screens and doing whatnot. 

" Do you ever get out of there Joker?" 

Shepard asked him. Due to his medical condition Joker couldn't walk without risking his bone structure fracturing like a shattered glass. He had a rare decease in his legs which made them brittle like a candy cane. Vrolik syndrome, made his leg bones brittle so he couldn't walk like a normal person. Even with the modern space age technology they couldn't cure him. 

" What else can I do Commander? Throw in some music and dance to the beat? "

Joker always had a side of humour. Maybe constant bullying by his senior students as a kid made him like them maybe. But no matter what he didn't lose his smile. Hence the name joker. 

"I'm not saying that , I mean it's a nice big Snowy day outside. Don't you wanna play???"

" Yeah leave the best vessel in the alliance navy for a day off to make Elsa's weird sex toy. " Joker smirked a little.

"Fine fine...what are you doing anyway? Not playing peeping Tom again I assume" Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"That was just one time....." Joker looked at Shepard as he was staring with a gesture saying 'Really'

" Okay two or three times but that's it. Now there's nothing interesting going on besides Garrus's sweet little calls to Doc Mitchell. " Joker said with a grin on his face. 

"Wait wait.....Are you saying there's something between Doc Mitchell and Garrus. The tech genius who never show affection towards anything except the Mako had a thing for her? " Shepard couldn't hide his laugh.


	8. Our little stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait . As I said working And other stuff....but hope you enjoy my book.

Shepard couldn't hide his laugh as he kept imagining how does a Turian kiss a Human faith their flappy mouths and no lips. Joker fed up some information about their relationship but that's not much. 

"You know what Joker, I think it's time to get to know my crew a little bit. Considering I have some few hours to kill. And I don't want to bore to your death, I think I'm gonna go now. " Shepard said with a serious spy like gesture on his face. 

" Good luck commander, And if you find up anything feel free to share . " Joker said with a large grin on his face. If it could stretch a little more it would reach his ears.

" Cm'on joker, do you think I don't know about you eavesdropping on everyone. ? " Shepard shot a serious but more histerical look at Joker. 

" Fine. I'll do it by myself" Joker sighed. 

After their little chit chat Shepard stopped to check up on Navigator Presley along the way and he made his way into the kitchen area where he found Garrus eating a MRE. He approached the fridge and grabbed another MRE and sit right next to Garrus. 

" So...Garrus...How's the life in the ship doing for ya?"   
Shepard asked as a conversation starter. 

" Couldn't complain Commander, some of the crew doesn't like me that much but no one ever said a word. "   
Garrus told as he took a bite out of the MRE. 

" Give them some time and they'll warm it to ya. So I get that Vakarian is a big name among Turians?" 

Garrus turned to Shepard and looked surprised. But then again he was his commanding officer, so he should have read the files.

" Yes, my parents were pretty famous amongst my people. " 

He didn't go into detail. He just answered plain and simple. 

" So, how'd you end up working for C-Sec ? You could've get a better job?" 

" Yeah.....But I like working on C-Sec. You can help people and I've always wanted to be a C-Sec officer. " He took another bite from his meal. 

" I see that you got your military training at fifteen and had a remarkable marksmanship. Why did you wanted to be a basically a cop? " 

Shepard asked and looked at Garrus to see if he was going out of the line. 

" Military was fine. But I needed it to be more than blood and death. Out here I can make a change . Also I wanted to be like my father. He was a C-Sec investigator like me. " 

Garrus was calm and centered as he answered every question Shepard asked. 

" So tell me about yourself Garrus. What's it like to be a investigator?" Shepard asked.

Garrus took a little pause And started. 

" As you already know Shepard, I was born on Palaven. A home world for my people. I had my military training when I'm fifteen and I was specialised in long range gunfights and infiltration. And I decided that it was not my place so I joined C-Sec, and after that I had some rough patches and now I'm here" 

Garrus spit it like reporting to a general. Maybe he was nervous or startled. 

" Look Garrus, this isn't a report. I just wanted to get to know my crew better. " 

Shepard said softly thinking it would calm him down. 

" Sorry commander, Old habits" Garrus said with a chuckling voice. 

" So why an investigator, you had military training why not field work?" 

Shepard asked while he took a sizeable bite from his MRE. 

" My ....father was a investigator. I wanted to become like him. And more likely he wanted to me become like him. But what I did changed people's lives better......I always wanted to do something that can help change the world. And I did but sometimes there are some compromises." 

He took a little pause gazing into the infinity. 

"Compromises? What do you mean?"

Shepard asked curiously. 

" Well....My methods wasn't always right, and I admit that. But eventually I get the job done. I wanted to be just like my father, but he was bounded by laws and regulations....." He let a little sigh. 

" But I was not. He was this 'by the book' person who always follow rules and regulations to the point. But when it comes to it he'll get the job done......He always said _'if you can't do it right, don't do t at all'_....I could never done it like that....Rules are there to protect innocent but when it comes to corrupted, it also protects them behind the wall of law.....I needed to do things my way. Father never understood me......" 

Garrus left a sigh and stared into the infinity. 

" So when did you meet Dr. Michel? " 

Shepard asked with a little grin while taking a sip of his drink and kept staring at the wall. Garrus was surprised by this ambush realising that all that small talk was to lead to this conversation. He know that Shepard know about them so there was no sense of denying. If only that was true. Garrus took a breath. 

" Chloe and I met few years ago back when I was just a cadet. She was an assistant in the Medical Station. We met when I went there to patch up a cut wound....some prick had cut me with a knife when I tried to grab him. ......" 

Garrus smiled as he went through his memories. 

" That's when I saw her. Young and beautiful, talented, determined and mostly kind. No offense but most of your kind have a hostility against us like chief Williams, but Chloe didn't. She was so kind, her words were heartwarming. I don't regret sayin' that I've intentionally injured myself just to see her. So eventually.....things worked out pretty well. "   
Garrus paused a little. 'maybe something went wrong' Shepard thought. 

" It was new for us. Neither of us had experience with another race.... First few months have been rocky but we kept our hope. As things went on it has been good for couple of years...." 

Garrus stopped to get a sip from his drink. 

" Time went on...I became an investigator and she became a doctor. So the time to spend on eachother became less and less....to the point where we thought we should give it time. But Chloe had hope. So...we kept our relationship in hope. Until we both realized it's too late for us. Neither of us had the time just to talk for a minute. So we thought it's best to go separate ways. But we still kept in touch in case any of us wanted to revisit...." 

Garrus tilted his head down. Sobbing. Not saying one word. He felt Shepard's hand on his shoulder patting him. 

" I hope you and Chief Williams don't share the same fate like us commander.....Damn I hope someday I make it upto her. " 

Shepard was surprised by his saying. He and Ashley? There was nothing between them but sparks were there. 

"What do you mean me and Ashley? There's nothing going with us....." 

Shepard immediately responded. Garrus looked at him...grinning.

" And yet you call her by her first name. After every mission you go directly to her. And I see the tension between you two.....still think you two don't have anything? " 

Shepard has curled up in guilt and embarrassment. But what he saying was true...but Shepard needed to change the subject.

" Soo Garry...Garrus.... I've been meaning to ask you....How did you guys...." 

Shepard closed his hand like a beak and gestured kiss... Only Garrus couldn't understand it.

" You know....do stuff... Like kissing....." 

Shepard almost about to burst. He looked at Garrus and he was blushing?? Maybe.

" You don't wanna know ..."

Garrus responded.....

" Oh now I've definitely gotta know...."


	9. Noveria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know some of these dialogues comes when we rescue Liara in Therum but I forgot that. So I put them here. Anyway most of this is just dialogues from the game with slightly altered phrases or sentences. I am not proud of it but still it's essential to my story to continue. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and bioware owns all

Ashley was tending to her equipments more today. Something didn't feel right today. Above all she didn't trust Parasini. Parasini could be one of them and there could be a trap waiting for Shepard inside that hotel. She had to make sure that she can back him all the way. She double checked all the weapons and equipments, both her and Shepard's making sure that they are in prime condition. 

As she working she looked around her. Garrus was doing something with the mako. For all she know he could rig it up to blow them to hell after they touch the ground. And Wrex was toying with his shotgun. She saw the bloodthirsty eyes of him as he looks at his priced possession. She didn't trust this new acquaintances like most humans. Who can blame her? It runs in her blood. As she looked around she saw Shepard coming towards her in the corner of her eye. _I should say something_ , she thought. 

" How's everything Chief? Are we ready to go?" Shepard asked as he walked to her. 

" Everything is good to go sir . I double checked everything." Ashley said as she turned to him.

" Have you checked Liara's equipment too? The battlefield might be hard for her. Besides I think she never even been in a face to face gunfight. " 

Shepard placed a hand on his chin as he was focused on something. Needless to say little jealousy came across Ash's face when she heard it. To her it sounded like Shepard was caring for Liara. 

" Already done sir. I'll back her up too. You don't have to worry" Ashley said with a slightly angry voice. 

" Alright then.". Shepard noticed her tone and quickly shut down the conversation. 

" Sir..You have a minute to talk?" 

There was concern in her voice. This might be out of line but she had to say something. Shepard noticed this too, the concern in her voice. Something was bugging her and he didn't want to scare her. 

" I have an open-door policy, If you have any concerns lay them on me. " Shepard said with a trusting tone. So Ashley didn't feel like she was going to be in trouble. 

" Alright,..... I know things are different abroad the Normandy, but... I'm concerned about the aliens Vakarian and Wrex." 

She looked around to check if they could hear it. She didn't trust them but she didn't want to jeopardize the mission. Vakarian was still all over the mako and Wrex was still on his toy. Shepard saw nervous look on her face. But a strong brave face took over it. 

" With all due respect, Commander, Should they have full access to the ship? I mean once you, me and Liara leave the ship they could do anything to the ship. " 

Ashley said with a suspicious look on her face. Shepard knew that she didn't go well along with aliens so this was normal. Besides she treasured Shepard, of course she is concerned about his safety. 

" Don't mince words chief, what's your concern? "   
Shepard said with an authority voice but hoped that he didn't scare her not to say her opinion. 

" This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy, I don't think we should allow them to poke around vital systems. Engine, sensors, weapons " 

Shepard saw where the concern is coming from. Garrus was an investigator, and Wrex is a war master. Both of them could turn this vessel into a battlefield if they wanted. 

" I'm not gonna lock them is sleeper pod for the whole trip, Williams" Shepard said with a joking way.   
" We can trust them, it's not like they can do anything secretly in here. Joker can see every inch in this vessel. " Shepard said with a grin. But it didn't satisfy Ashley. 

" I'd be more comfortable if they didn't have access to the engines and the CIC. " She couldn't pick up the joke as she was more focused on security concerns. 

"We" she opened again. " Humanity I mean, have to rely on ourselves. " 

" How do you get ' relying on ourselves' to ' mistreating our allies' ?" This time Shepard was little bit serious. 

Ashley noticed that she was going out of lines but she trusted him anyway. Maybe she raised her voice a bit. So she calmed herself and replied. 

" I don't mean we should mistreat them Commander, I just think we should be prepared to go at it without them " 

She looked at his face. The serious face was still there. But there's no going back. 

" As noble as the council members seem now, if their back against the wall, they'll abandon us. " 

Shepard couldn't blame her. She was independent. She fought a invasion single handed for hell's sake. But this time Shepard thought he must convince her to trust them. She was cynical about the idea but he knew that he could trust them. 

" Of course they will, but I don't think that is inevitable" Shepard said. 

Ashley sighed and replied.   
" Look, if you're fighting a bear and the only way for you to survive is to sic your dog on to it and run, you'll do it. As much as you love your dog, it isn't human. " Ashley presented a pretty gory image and a good example.

" Maybe you shouldn't tell that to John Wick". Shepard thought in his mind. 

" It's not racism, not really. Members of their species is more important to them than humans are. "   
Shepard didn't like this kind of talk. For him everyone is equal. That made him little bit pissed off. 

" You sound like one of those Terra Firma party pamphlets Chief" Shepard said with an angry voice. 

That comment pissed Ashley off. She was being realistic not barbaric.

" Terra Firma is a pack of jackals. The founders had ideal. These days they just play off xenophobia and bigotry. " She looked at Shepard with frowning eyes.   
" I hope MY reasons are rational" 

she maybe hinted at Shepard. But he didn't pick it. 

" My father, Grand father, great-grandmother....they all picked up a rifle and swore the oath to service."

Shepard saw the flames in her eyes. She was furious for calling her a Terra Firma. But she didn't show it. Afterall Shepard was her CO. 

" I just guess we tend to think earth's interests as our own. " She calmed down and replied. 

" Alright, I understand your feelings and where the concerns coming from Williams. But this is a multi- lateral mission. You're going to have to work with the aliens, like it or not" Shepard calmed her and replied the best suited option. 

" It won't be a problem commander. If you say 'Jump' I say 'how high' . If you tell me to kiss a turian. I'll as which cheek" her seriousness didn't go away. 

" Would you kiss anyone if I ordered to ? " Shepard said it with a intention to crack a joke and release tension. But Ashley was still a little bit pissed off. 

" That depends sir. If you ordered me to kiss a superior officer, that would be a violation of regs concerning fraternization. That would make it an illegal order. I'd be required to decline and relieve you of command. Sir." 

Ashley realized that it was just a joke. But the train has left the station. Shepard was laughing under his hand. But didn't show it. 

" Relax Williams, It was just a joke. I won't need to order it. You'll just won't be able to resist it. " Shepard said with a flirty grin. 

" Then maybe I should swing by certain someone's cabin after the dinner he owe me" she shot back. And she was glad to release the tension between them.

* * *

The trio was ready to meet up with Parasini at the hotel. But prior to that Shepard told both Ashley and Liara to keep their eyes open. Because the human Spectre was not welcomed there very well. It'll only take a tenth of second to go something wrong. Three of them suited up with the best equipment they could use and marched to the port Hanshan. 

Shepard touched his ear and activated the comm link. 

"Everyone can here me okay?" Shepard asked to make sure. 

" Loud and clear commander" that was Ashley. 

" Yes commander Shepard" second to Ash was Liara. 

" Everyone keep their eyes open. Watch your back. Joker seal the Normandy. We don't need any funny business to happen. 

" Aye aye Captain." With Joker's reply the comm link was cut down. 

The trio made it to the hotel where Parasini was waiting for them. She was different, not in a aesthetic way but her posture was more rigid and had an authority figure. She saw Shepard and the crew as they entered the hotel. But they were interrupted by a investigator operating and investigation about Asari commandos and such things about a biotics company. After Shepard agreed to help her they made their way to Parasini. 

" Allow me to reintroduce myself. Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs. "   
She presented her hand in order to shake hands. The trio was surprised by this twist but they couldn't say that it was unexpected. 

" Why is an internal affairs agent here? " Shepard shook her hand and asked while giving her questioning look. 

" The executive board knows about Anoleis's corruption. I've been undercover for six months." 

She looked at the far end of the hotel bar and signed Shepard to look that way. 

" That is Lorik Qu'in. He was fired recently from the company, and he has proof of Anoleis's corruption. I want you to convince him to testify before the board. With his evidence, this planet can run profitably again. " 

There was no small talk or anything, she was straight to the point. Probably because she wanted to keep.her cover. 

" Say I help you. What's in it for me? " Shepard asked back because he was in dire need of a garage pass.

" Whatever you want. " Gianna kept it short and Simple. 

" I need a garage pass. I heard that Qu'in has one. "   
Shepard demanded. Nothing was more important to him than his mission. 

" You help my investigation and I'll provide whatever you need, favor for a favor. Are you in? " She asked. Anyone could say that she was in a hurry. 

" Okay. I'll see what I can do. " Shepard shook her hand. 

" Come see me after you have the evidence. You know where I work. " Like that Gianna exited the hotel. 

" Man...I wonder if I fit in that dress." Shepard was instantly surprised by the voice of Ashley. Ashley had no idea that she said it out loud. 

" Looking for a dress for our dinner date chief?" Shepard teased her when she realized what she had done. 

After talking to Lorik Qu'in Shepard learned the whereabouts of the evidence and made his way to them. As they entered the room some thugs stopped them and like that a firefight started. Unfortunately for the mercs Shepard was in his N7 mind where nothing can step between his mission and him. So the dozen number of Mercs were shredded to pieces under the firepower of the human Spectre. After recovering the evidence and teaching some other Mercs where they stand. Shepard made his way to the hotel. Convinced Qu'in to testify against Anoleis. And made back to Anoleis's office to tell Gianna. 

" Spectre, have you give any consideration to my offer? " Gianna stood up as she saw Shepard walked through the door. 

" It took some persuasion. But Qu'in had agreed to testify. " Shepard said with his witty voice. 

Gianna let a thanking sigh. 

" That's a world of stress off my back. I'll take the evidence to safe transport." She thanked Shepard and stepped out of her desk. 

" While you were working on Qu'in I got you a garage pass. Be careful up there. " She handed the garage pass to Shepard. 

" I have an arrest to make. I wish I had time to slip into something I can move with. I hate skirts. " She frowned her brows and curled her shoulders. 

" If you don't like them maybe you could give them to our Chief here" Shepard said while looking at ash with a playful grin. 

" Yeah...I could strip down right here and give her my BDUs if you'd like 'Shepard'"

Ashley shot back with a face of a tiger just before devouring into the flesh of its pray. The look almost scared Shepard. But he still kept his perverted grin. 

Poor Liara couldn't understand what is happening. 'Maybe it's a human thing' she thought. Followed by ' Humans are weird' 

After their chit chat Parasini arrested Anoleis and dragged him out of his office. 

" Thanks Commander, I owe you a beer. " She wanted to give him a flirty look but when she saw Ashley was looking at her like drilling a hole in her head. She kept her mood. 

Now that they have the garage pass they needed, they made their way to the hanger and prepared for what comes next.


	10. First steps.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this took a little bit longer than I expected. But I think I made it justice. Hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Bioware owns all.

The crew came back to the ship exhausted. After cleansing the Peek 15 from the rachni infestation, facing two dozens of geth and Asari Commandos and Benezia herself they were gald to be back on their ship. Well, for some of them. Benezia had to die. Right before her own daughter's eyes. Shepard knew exactly what Liara was feeling but Liara never spoke a word. She put her equipment in her locker   
and walked away. It must have hit hard for her. Even though her and her mother didn't have the best of bonds, Benezia was her mother. 

Ashley saw Shepard's look on his face as he watched Liara walk away. He had the same tragedy. She couldn't imagine what it felt like. But she didn't want Shepard to feel that way. At least not alone. So she marched to Shepard, placed a hand on his shoulder. Shepard turned around to see the genuine caring look in her amber eyes. He wanted to hug her. But this isn't the time. 

" Hey" the only word he said. 

" How're you doing? " Ash asked him. Turned him face her. 

" I need a drink. Feel like shit . " Shepard tilted his head down. 

" Yeah you and me both. " Ashley said. They both were exhausted. 

" Hot Coco tonight? " Shepard looked at her beautiful face. Covers with rachni blood and all kind of shit. 

" Sure. " Ash smiled. They felt wrong. One of their crew member had lost her mother. And here they are flirting with eachother. 

" You should go get cleaned up. " Shepard said.

Ashley took her hand. And wiped her face. 

" Yeah....I should. You should go talk to Liara. Poor girl just lost her mother. That must suck. " She said.

" Yeah...It sucks. I'll go talk to her. But I think a girl can do much better than me. " Shepard said. They both head up the elevators and got cleaned up. 

Liara was looking at some of her childhood photos of her mother and her. How they lived happily. She felt this feeling but couldn't really express it. She heard someone was entering the room. She immediately closed the photos of her mother and her. It was Shepard. 

" Commander Shepard" she stood from her seat. 

" Is there anything I can do for you? " She calmly asked. 

" No...No...I just came here to check on you...How're you feeling? " Shepard asked. 

" If you are here to talk about my mother, you don't need to worry. I won't let my mother's death stand in the way of our mission." She said. 

The light made her eyes sparkle when it hit the crystalized eyes of hers. She didn't show it but she missed her mother. 

" You don't have to pretend you don't care. She was your mother. It's okay to grieve....If you want to talk..." 

Liara interrupted Shepard. 

" I know she is my mother...or was. But I lost my mother long time ago. When she went to work with Saren. " She said. 

" Part of your mother knew that what she's doing is wrong. That's why she told us what Saren was after. In the end, your mother made sure that you're safe. " 

Shepard said. Liara was still looking at the floor with soggy eyes. 

" Part of your mother still lives in you. Her kindness, goodness of heart, her caring side still lives inside. It's okay to miss her, she was your mother afterall..." 

Shepard tried to comfort her. And Liara was glad to have the company. But Shepard couldn't do much. Liara was still young but stubborn. 

" Thank you Shepard. " She said and wiped her eyes. 

" If you want to talk...I'm here okay? "

Shepard said. Liara nodded in agreement and continued her works. Shepard exited the room to leave her some space to workout things. Shepard felt sorry for her. In her culture she was not more than 16 years old but yet she had a world of stress on her head. Can't imagine what it's like. 

Ashley was sitting on the diner table next to the medbay looking at the door nonstop. She felt sorry for Liara but she didn't want her to bond with Shepard over the death of her mother.  
" I know that's a terrible thing to think but I don't want to lose him" she thought. 

She took a small sip of her drink. As Shepard walked out of the medbay he caught Ashley gazing at him. Ashley immediately got her eyes away from the door but she couldn't help to stare at the handsome captain. She saw that Shepard was walking towards her so she tilted her head to side in order to sign him to sit next to her. Shepard grabbed the chair and sat next to her. 

" How's she doing? " She asked. 

" Better than I thought...." He sighed " But I don't know. She is a young girl, has no idea how feelings work. " 

Ashley presented her drink to Shepard. He took a small sip which made him surprisingly fresh. 

" Mint tea?" Shepard asked curiously. 

" Earl grey, camomile, cinnamon and mint , my mother's secret recipe for headaches. " She said. 

" You know...I could talk to her if you want. Girl to girl i mean. " Ashley said looking for a reaction on his face. 

" That's a good idea. You girls know how eachother feel more than we know. " He said. 

" My thought exactly. " Ashley said. 

" Okay good. Are we still on for the Coco ?" Shepard asked with raising eyebrows. 

" Are you kidding? Wouldn't miss it for the world. " Ashley said playfully. 

" See you tonight then...." Shepard paused a little. That sounded like a couple meeting for hot coffee at night. But she didn't mind so he smiled and made his way to the bridge. Ashley finished her drink cleaned up and went to see the little doctor. 

Liara was still mourning but yet she didn't know what she felt. Even though her mom never stayed with her in her youth years but she missed her like she never saw her. 

Ashley entered the room as she tried to close the terminal but Ash saw what is in it. 

" Hey Doc, how're you holding up? " 

She looked at her. She could tell that Liara was devastated. But she didn't know what she was feeling. Ashley sat on Liara's bed and signaled her to sit next to her. 

" I appreciate your concern Chief but I am okay. " Liara said. Ash could say she was not okay. 

" Look, I know you are not okay...I can see it. It's better to talk to someone other than holding it. " 

Ash said while holding her hand. Liara couldn't understand the feeling. Somehow Ash holding her hand made her comfortable. She liked it. Not in a creepy way. But in a good way.

" Thank you Chief...." Ashley interrupted her .

" You can call me Ashley, Liara. Talk to me....It'll help you." Ash said with a comforting look on her face. 

" Thank you chief.... Ashley I mean. I don't know what I'm feeling...." She sighed. " My mother and I never saw eye to eye after I left for my work and she left for hers. But I miss her so much. I can't understand it. " Liara tilted her head down with soggy eyes. 

Ashley grabbed her face and caressed her cheeks. Wiping the tears fell along her blue cheeks. 

" Hey...It's okay to feel bad. She was your mother. Even if you didn't see the same way, she cared for you. That's what mothers do. She loved you . " Ashley took Liara's head and placed on her shoulder. Liara felt so comfortable and she cried all the way. 

" I miss her Ashley....I miss her so much. She was always supportive. Even when I said I didn't want to persue her work, that I wanted to research protheans she said okay. She always had my back..." 

Liara buried her face on Ashley's shoulders. Ashley caressed her head as she cried. 

" The best way to honor your mom is to remember all the happy memories you have of her. As long as you remember her she will live inside your head. And she'll always be with you. " Ashley said. 

Liara was sobbing and wiping her face. She stopped crying for a moment and remembered her mother. 

" She always liked to wear yellow....." She said. " Yellow wasn't a respected colour in our world. Everyone thought that color as minor's colours. But my mother would always wear yellow outfits. She loved them....and she was gorgeous in them. " She continued. Ashley smiled as Liara reminded her mom. She held her to let know that she will always be there for her. 

After some crying and sobbing and lots of tears Liara finally felt better. "Shepard was right" she thought. She was happy because someone listened to her.   
" Thank you Ashley....You know....for listening. No one has ever done that for me." Liara said gratefully. 

" Don't mention it. That's what friends are for right? " Ashley smiled and replied. 

" We are friends? " Liara was surprised by Ashley's statement. Because she never had a real friend.

" Why, you don't like it? " Ash asked.

" No...I really like that. I've never had a friend. It's great to have a friend like you. " Liara smiled. She was grateful for everything Ash had done. And to be her friend abroad the Normandy. She felt like she belong now. 

" Thank you Ashley for staying with me. Now I know shy Shephard likes you very much" Liara smiled and said. 

Ashley's face turned red and her eyes widened with surprise. 

" Shepard told you that he likes me? " She asked with a surprised look. 

It was obvious that both of them had feelings for eachother but they never talked about it. But to hear from another crew member was a surprise for her. 

" Oh...No he didn't say anything. But anyone could see it. How he always come to you right after every mission to check up on you. The sparks between you two when you are talking. It's obvious that he likes you. Maybe even love you. " Liara said. 

Ashley's eyes widened once more. " Love?.... Shepard loves me?" She thought. She was almost afraid. Not because she felt the same way but because this could distract him from his mission and from her mission. 

" I take it Love is a scary thing between humans? " Liara opened her voice. She was watching how Ashley's face turned red and pale at the same time. 

" Ye...yeah something like that. " She smiled. " Anyway....I should get going now. Are you feeling okay? If you need to talk you know I'm only a call away. " Ashley said. 

" Thank you Ashley. " 

She said goodbye to Liara and exited the medbay. She could stop thinking about what Liara said about Shepard. Obviously she was happy that they both feel the same way but that also could ruin their relationship. Plus there are consequences for fraternising with soldiers under the same chain of command. But whatever happens she was ready to face them head on.

* * *

Shepard was coming down to his regular checkup on Ashley. As he exited the elevator he saw Ash was talking to someone on her console. He approached her not wanting her to notice but hoping to find out who is she talking to. 

" - Oh before I go....you said you're serving with commander Shepard now. We saw him on the news here. He's cute....Later sis. " 

The girl on the console had a childish voice with a playful tone. He assumed that it was Ashley's sister. He smiled when he heard what she said about him. With that smirk in his face Ashley noticed him and cut the Comms. Her face was blushing, she was embarrassed he could say. She saw Shepard's witty grin and realized that he heard something. 

" Tell me you didn't hear that...." She said out of embarrassment. She was almost sure that he'll never let it go. 

" Okay I won't tell then...." He said playfully. " Your sister I assume? " He asked still keeping his charming grin on his face. 

" _Oh god...he must have heard it all....damn it Sarah I'm going to kill you._ " She thought. " _But why am I stressed this much. He likes me....so what. Stupid me._ " Her embarrassment came down to a playful feeling. 

" Until I go home and kill her...." She teased. She was not nervous or anything. She felt like she was talking to someone who she knew for a long time. 

Shepard chuckled. He saw that her nervousness had come down. He could say that she was not uncomfortable talking to him about this. 

" That's Sarah, The youngest" She sighed. But not a worried one. A happy one. Reliving sigh.

" So what's up? You didn't come by to eavesdrop on family mail. " She asked playfully. 

Shepard forgot what he was going to ask her. Mainly because she said 'Family' not ' My family' .  
" Is she considering me as her family?" Shepard thought. Or this could be a wild speculation. 

" Your family seems to be important to you. " Shepard asked sincerely. He wanted to know what she meant. 

" Yeah...We've always been close. Me and my sisters especially. " Ash said with a smile as she her memories flow into her mind. 

" With dad on duty so much, I had to help mom raise them " she said with a proud voice. 

Actually Shepard could see that. Her being the big sister, filling the role of dad when he's not around. There was definitely some bossing around for sure, but she could pull it off. One has to wonder after being so pushy and judgy her still talks to her. Cause most wouldn't. 

" After helping raise them, your sisters still talk to you? Amazing " he asked. 

Ashley took a big breath 

" Things were tense between Sarah and me for a while. Then we just....bonded" she said. 

Shepard wanted to ask how but he didn't want to be needy or pushy. When the time comes he can know all about them. 

" Sounds like your father wasn't around much. Wasn't your family stationed near him. " 

It's a normal procedure to relocate a family of a soldier on duty near him. 'Something must have happened' Shepard wondered. 

" Dad always wanted to serve in space" Ashley sounded sad. " But he wanted us to have real ground under our feet." Her voice was crackling and her eyes turned a bit soggy. 

_Something's wrong._ Shepard thought. _something happened with or to her dad_ he wondered but did not want to open any old wounds by accident. 

" He'd say ' Space is beautiful, but you can't raise a family there' " she said sadly. Then she remembered something. 

" I cannot rest from travel, I will drink life to the Lees, All times I have enjoy'd greatly, I have duffer's greatly, both with those who loved me, and alone." 

Ashley's face turned to a pretty smile as her lips danced to the poem. Shepard was mesmerized by her grace and surprised by her knowledge. He never thought the most badass women he ever met was into poetry. 

" For always roaming with a hungry heart. Much have I seen and known. Cities of men, and manners, climates, councils, government's" 

Ashley had a deep but poetic voice. Her reciting was perfect, never she stuttered a word. Her mind ran through dozens and dozens of happy memories. The old days with her father. 

Shepard was surprised by her poetic side. The girl can take down an entire geth platoon. And here she is reciting poems like a lovely girl from a romantic novel. " Oh my god......I love her" Shepard thought. Her eyes was fixed on his. He had to say something now. 

" My..my... Chief Williams. I never thought I'd hear you reciting poetry. " Shepard teased. 

" Just because I can drill you between the eyes at a hundred metres doesn't mean I can't like sensitive stuff." Ashley angrily replied. 

_"Okay.... she's very defensive. Maybe I should apologize?_ Shepard thought. 

But Ashley was not angry. She was just playing. She loved poetry. And she loved him. So she had no problem with shearing her sensitive side with him. 

" Just don't spread it around" Ashley secretly said. 

Shepard saw that she was just teasing him. She was not angry but she was playing with him. He let out a sigh and smiled. 

" ' **Ulysses** was my dad's favourite poem. Every time he shipped out he recorded me reading it. He had a dozen versions when he retired. " Ashley said. 

Her voice became a mixture of joy and sadness. Joy because of the love for her dad made her remember him by reciting poems. And the sadness because of the late father. Shepard could see this but he didn't want to ask. He didn't want to push her. She was opening up to him and this pace was good enough for him. 

" Does he still like it? " Shepard asked. 

Ashley had very fond memory of her father. Shepard thought that she was eager to see her father after this all ends. 

" I sure hope so." She said. With a little smile and a hint of grey on her face. She looked happy but not happy at the same time. 

" I read to his grave everytime I go home". 

Shepard felt like a barbed wire stabbed him through his heart. But Ashley kept her cool. Shepard was sure that her father was alive by how she talks about him. But... She has come to terms with them. The fond memories kept him alive in her memories. Shepard felt more drawn to her as she opens up for him. Nothing about this was on her file. He felt sorry for her. And she saw that from his face. Shepard thought the last thing he could do was to listen to her. 

" Dad passed few years ago." She raised her voice again to save them from the akward silence. She saw Shepard's face rising back up to her.

" He's still watching though. So behave " she said with a playful voice. 

It's clear that she didn't care about the death of her father. For her he was still alive. Watching over them. His memories kept her closer to him. Shepard smiled. He'd respect a man who raised such a strong girl like this. 

" I thought you said he was dead? " Shepard asked. 

" You know, from heaven. Wherever that is. " She said nervously. 

She feared that believing in God was something Shepard didn't wanted to know. Because they serve is space doesn't mean they couldn't believe in higher power. 

" That's not a problem with you is it? That I believing in god? " She asked. If she wanted to take a step further she wanted to know that her belifs are Okay with him.

" Of course not. Just because you serve in space doesn't mean you can't believe in higher power. Besides.... I'm just your commanding officer, not your moral compass. " Shepard said. 

The last line had a teasing voice. Which he intended to. After the all has happened to him. He didn't thought that it was god's idea to put him through all of that. For that he didn't believe in God. But he never had problems with those who believed. Everyone has a free will. He believed in good deeds.

Ashley smiled. " _Finally a commander who doesn't humiliate me for believing. "_ she thought. Despite her family history, many of the commanding officers has mocked her due to this. For Shepard's reply. She couldn't be happier. 

" Just commanding officer huh? We'll see about that" she said playfully. 

" Oh? What are you saying Williams? " Shepard asked. Teasingly.

" Me....I'm not saying anything Skipper. " She replied. She didn't realize that she called him skipper. 

She didn't think it through but it felt right. After all she loves him.  
Shepard was surprised. _Skipper ?_ he thought. _" A nickname! Maybe she's warming up to me. Maybe she felt the same way. "_ he thought. He looked at with a raised eyebrow. And a small grin. They both knew what they wanted. They smiled with eachother. 

" We'll talk later Williams. See you tonight? " Shepard asked. 

" Looking forward to it skipper. " Ash said. 

He eyes glowed like a moonstone reflect sunlight. Shepard looked at her amber eyes with loving sight. And left for the elevator. They both couldn't wait for the late night talk.


	11. Always.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay....this turned out to be better than I expected. So I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Bioware owns all. 
> 
> I have to admit. I took that last place from castle. One of my favourite TV shows.

The ground was covered in blood. There were few dozens of corpses everywhere. Some are still holding for their dear life, screaming for help. Ashley was top of the hill watching all of this. She tried to run to help them. But each step she take the further they were. She ran and ran. But she went nowhere. Her boots were covered in blood. Her pink hardsuit was covered in blood.   
Suddenly the corpses rose from their ground and marched towards her. Adams, Lancer, Bhatia. She recognized them. " They are alive" she thought. She ran to them. This time she could get close to them. But they were not alive. Their eyes glowed in dark purple, crying blood tears. They appeared to be alive but more like a husk. As they came closer and closer Ashley's heart raced. 

" You left us" they said. " You killed us " they moaned. 

She ran away from them but it was no use. She was surrounded. They surrounded her chanting " you left us, you killed us". Ashley begged sorry. Nirali Bhatia came forward. Her body began to deform. Taking a shape of a geth prime. She grabbed Ashley as she screamed "You left me to die". The deformed alliance soldier teared Ashley's limb by limb, causing excruciating pain. She screamed as Grimm figure of death appeared before her eyes, with a familiar face. It was her father. 

She woken up immediately. Causing to hit her head on the glass of the sleeper pod. She let out a reliving sigh. " Just another nightmare" she thought. She looked at her Omni tool to see the time. 2: 12 a.m. 

" Oh my god.... Shepard" she forgot about him. That he was waiting for her. She went to sleep for few hours so she wouldn't fall in sleep like before. But she slept too long. She got out of her pod and put on her BDU pants and nearly ran to the kitchen area.

* * *

Shepard was waiting and waiting for Ashley to show up. Last time she checked she was asleep so he didn't bother her. But this time he was worried.   
"Maybe she's sleeping" he thought. So he grabbed his coffee and made his way to the sleeper pod area. Ashley saw someone is coming towards her. "Maybe I'm still dreaming" she thought. But the shadowy figure called her name. 

" Ashley? " 

It was Shepard. She looked at him and smiled as she finally recognized him. She was glad to see him that night.

" You're alright? " He asked. 

He saw the shaken pale face of Ashley. He had seen this only back in Citadel when Mr. Bhatia reminded her of her late squadmates. 

" Ye...yeah. I fell asleep. Sorry to keep you waiting Skipper" she said. 

" Pretty bad dream I guess" Shephard said while looking at her still really pale face. She had to be seen something gruesome. Otherwise she wouldn't be this startled. 

" Yeah...You could say that....Sorry to keep you waiting. I thought you might have left" she said while fixing her bun. 

" Nah... you're worth the wait. Shall we? " Shepard pointed his hand towards the kitchen like a waiter pointing a table to a customer. 

Ashley smiled at him and walked pass him. Then he followed her to their usual spot. Shepard reached Joker's hiding spot. But instead of Coco powder, he found a little note.   
_To whomever took my elixir....  
Surprise huh? I can see every inch of this   
ship. If you think I didn't see you the first  
time...you are dumb as a rock. Good luck   
finding the powder dumbass. I hid it where  
I can see it this time. Peace.   
Joker_

Shepard couldn't hide his embarrassment. Ashley saw that Shepard's face turned grey so she walked upto him to see what's going on. He was holding a piece of paper instead of a Coco packet. She realized that somehow joker had found their scheme and took matters to his own hands. They both were disappointed. 

" So what now...? " Ash asked. 

Shepard was still pissed about joker for ruining their night. But who could blame the poor guy, it's hard to find that kind of genuine drink in the galaxy. Suddenly his face lit up as he remembered something. 

" Come with me. " Shepard took Ashley's hand and dragged her to his quarters. 

She didn't have time to react because he just grabbed and took her suddenly. She didn't struggle either, as Shepard dragged her she followed him to his quarters.   
After they both entered the cabin Shepard let go of Ashley and signed her to sit on the table. Ash couldn't understand why is she here or what he was doing. She looked at him with a quizzled look while Shepard was searching for something. 

" So..." She broke the silence. " What are we doing here skipper.....Are you trying to get me to your bed"   
She joked. 

Despite the fact that she was traumatized by a nightmare, cracking few jokes with Shepard always made her smile. And Shepard was second to none, he would always shoot back with a witty perverted reply. 

" I'm just looking for something.... maybe a Condom"   
He looked at her with a perverted grin on his face. Which made Ashley to laugh her lungs out. 

" Oh don't worry Shepard. I don't mind carrying the baby of the first damn Spectre " she looked at his ass as she replied with another perverted look. 

" Bingo..." Said Shepard loudly. Ashley was startled by his sudden raise of voice. He was holding a bottle and two glasses along with some kind of food packets. 

Shepard arranged the two glasses and the two packets on the bed along with some paper plates that he had found somehow. Ash looked at what he was doing as she tried to peek to look at the bottle. 'Whiskey' was the only word that she could make out. 

" So....." Shepard said with a exited look on his face.   
" I owed you a dinner. This is nothing fancy but here is an earth's finest whiskey with some...uh let's say Chinese food ?." Shepard pointed at them. 

Ashley's face bursted with a smile as Shepard was telling his proud creation to her as a child excited with his first ice cream. 

" Will you join me Miss Williams? " Shepard asked with a try hard English accent that made Ashley to laugh like crazy. 

She teased him by looking like she was deciding whether not to join him. As Shepard's face turned grey she said. 

" You've got whiskey, count me in Mr. Pennyworth " hilariously. 

" Do I really sound like the butler of the greatest superhero ever? " He kept his fake British accent. 

" That's enough....." Ashley squeaked. She couldn't handle the laughed. " You are gonna make me pee. " She said. 

" Oh cm'on now love. We're just tryin to eat here. " This time it was more like a drunk pirate. Shepard was great at making funny accents. To see a smile on her face he could do anything. .

" Come on....Let's eat. You owe me a dinner with you remember?" She said. 

Shepard pushed away the pillow and sat in front of Ashley. He opened the two packets for them and carefully placed on the plates. Ashley watched while he was trying so hard to impress her but didn't say a word that wasn't necessary anymore. .

" So....no candles? " she asked as in a joke. She wanted this moment to be memorable. It's like first official date with commander Shepard. 

Shepard placed his hands on either sids of the bed and touched two holo disks which made them to appear as candles. 

" Happy now ? " Shepard asked. 

They both sat on the bed. In front of eachother. Shepard poured a glass of whiskey for her, which she quickly emptied. 

" Whoa Sir drinks-a-lot. Slow down. We don't want you to be hungover tomorrow right? " Shepard asked as Ashley poured another glass of whiskey. 

" Sorry skipper. I just have a lot in my mind. I wanted to blow some steam. " She said while looking at the glass. 

" You can talk to me you know. I'm here for anything"   
Shepard said while gazing into her amber eyes. 

" Thanks Shepard. It's just.....the nightmares won't go away. Everytime I sleep I see them, calling my name. Calling out that I'm a murderer. " She tilted her head downwards. She felt a light touch on her palm. 

Shepard reached her arm and gently touched it. Ashley looked at him as he sincerely gazed into her eyes. 

" Cm'on Ash, you know that's not true. You didn't kill your squad. The geth did. That's why we're on this mission right?. " She held his hand tightly. 

Shepard took Ashley's arm away from the glass and held by his other hand. Ashley suddenly felt warmth flow through her veins. She always liked when Shepard made her feel like this. 

" Look, whatever happened in Eden prime wasn't your fault. You did the best you could. They didn't die because of you. They died fighting for what they believe in. Their legacy still holds because of you. "   
Shepard said while gently caressing her hand. 

" Thanks Daniel...." She sobbed a little. " That means a lot coming from you " she said gratefully. 

" Listen... whatever you're going through, I'll be always there for you. No matter what happens. I believe in you. You can do this. And when we take down Saren, you'll feel that the 212 sacrifice didn't go to waste. Okay. " Shepard said.

Ashley's eyes sparkled by the lite of synthetic candles. A drop of tear ran through her cheek. She was being vulnerable in front of a man. After her father she'd never done this. That moment she realized that she truly loves him. 

" Now let's eat. Some shots of whiskey will clear your mind. " Shepard said while pouring another glass for him. 

Ashley stared at him with mesmerized eyes wondering how lucky she was. A man like Shepard caring for her . Being there for her. 

" Hey Shepard. " She nervously called his name. 

Shepard looked at her with smiling eyes. 

" Yeah Ash" he said. 

" Thank you. You know.....for being there for me." She said with a load of gratitude in her voice. 

Shepard looked at her. Smiled. 

" Always "


	12. Seeds of Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Sorry for taking so much time to post this. I just struggled with getting the timeline corect. So anyway I hope everyone enjoys this. 
> 
> Bioware owns all

_Hey Shepard.  
Yeah Ash?   
Thank you. You know for being there for me.   
Always. _

The conversation the night before echoed in her head. She couldn't resist smiling every time she ran it in her head. Over and over again. For anyone it could be nothing but for her it was like the best night after she assigned to Normandy. She slept well. No nightmares. 

" If we could spend every night like that " she thought. But the mission was too important to be distracted by feelings. Saren must be stopped.

The Normandy was heading to the Citadel for replying. After Noveria the mako was badly damaged by geth armature attacks and the crew could use some new equipment. Who knows that Saren might still be there and if they have to fight entire armada. It's better to be ready than sorry. 

Ashley was checking up on the weapons as usual when she heard someone was coming behind her. She turned with a smile expecting Shepard to be there but instead it was Jones or the requisitions officer. 

" Hey Jones, what's up?" She turned back to her desk, not showing the disappointment on her face. 

" Hey Ashley. Listen....I need to ask you something" Jones nervously said. 

Ashley looked a bit surprised. Sure it wasn't forbidden to call her by her first name but someone like Jones definitely won't do that kind of thing.

" Sure. What's on your mind Jones? " She asked normally. Clearly there's an idea about her in his mind. She immediately knew it but she didn't want to give him any ideas. 

" So...You and Commander, " He gulped as he watched around to see if anybody was listening to them. 

" Are you two...Like a thing? " He asked. 

Ashley's immediate instinct tried to say "No" to that question but that means that she's available. But she didn't want to say " Yes" because of the regs.

" Okay... Don't freak out. But it's okay we....I mean Normandy is a family. Nobody is going to rat you out. " Jones said while she was collecting an answer. 

" What do you mean Jones? " She asked as if she didn't know anything. 

" Oh don't get coy Chief. It's not hard to put the pieces together. Every mission he takes you with him. After every mission he comes to check up on you, late night you sneak out to see him. It's not that hard you know. " Jones said. 

Ashley felt like a gas grenade blew up in her stomach. If Jones could find out then the brass could definitely find out about them. But she didn't want to lose what they had. They need to be more careful. 

" Who else knows? " Ashley whispered. 

" Only me as far as I know. Oh and Dr. Chakwas I think. " Jones whispered back.

" Anyway...That's not why I'm here. " He said again with searching for unwanted ears. 

Ashley looked at him curiously. 

" If not, why are you here? " She asked. 

" Well. You didn't hear it from me okay? But I think Shepard has a thing for the Asari doctor. " Jones said. 

That hit Ashley like a brick in the face. Shepard with Liara? She even knows that he likes me. Maybe it's Shepard. No Shepard would never do that to me. Would he?   
Ashley's head filled with riddles that she didn't want the answer for. She thought she and Shepard had grown fond of eachother so much that now they are like basically a couple. But then again Shepard didn't say anything. She needed to find out more of this. 

" Why do you say that? " Ashley asked, Hurt.

" Well I've seen him going there many times now and spending there about half an hour talking to her. " Jones said. 

Maybe there is something to it than she think, she thought. But she trusted Shepard. But Jones also have no reason to make this up. She had to know the truth from Shepard himself. 

" Thanks Jones. " She said while thinking how is she going to ask Shepard about this. 

" Anything for you Ash" said Jones.

Then she realized. That Jones was being overly. She couldn't figure it out before because she was so focused on Shepard and Liara while Jones could have other intentions. But there is no harm asking Shepard about this. Or so she thought. 

**Meanwhile in Liara's chambers....**

Liara stood up from her chair as Shepard entered the room. After her mother's death Shepard usually comes sometimes to see how's she doing because being in that exact position he knew that this pain was could be unbearable to a person like Liara. 

" Commander Shepard, have you come to check up on me? " She asked. 

" I was worried about you " Shepard said. 

Needless to say that Shepard and Ashley have a solid relationship foundation and Liara knew that. But during these little talks she had developed feelings for him. She knew that Shepard belong to someone else now but she couldn't resist her feelings. 

" You are too kind Commander but I am fine. The crew and Ashley had been so helpful as well as you. "   
Liara said with her innocent calming voice. 

" That's good to hear Liara. So anything new on your studies? " Shepard asked curiously. 

" Yes in fact there is something new I found out. It appears that the mu relay station was first developed by some other ancient beings before protheans. I can't say exactly who but they did not built it and neither the other mass relays." Liara narrowed her eyebrows as she tried to figure out this mystery. 

" Could it be the reapers built it before protheans and they just found them? The reapers could've used them as a fast way to travel between prothean colonies." Shepard said.

" It could be true but we know nothing about this reapers. Only you have seen them. " Liara said. 

" That's what the council said. " Shepard growled.

Liara saw the look on his face and was terrified that she had done something for to him be this mad. 

" I'm sorry commander, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just...you've been given a gift from an old civilization who ruled the traverse 50000 years ago. Your mind can't process that much data without a proper knowledge. " Liara said. Apparently she had no idea how not to mad people make even madder. 

" You mean like yours" Shepard said with an raised eyebrow. 

" Precisely. That's why I find you most interesting. Your mind could be the best thing I found so far that my research could prove its worth to persue this. " Liara said with excitement thinking that he was serious. 

" Sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab somewhere" Shephard said. 

" What ? Oh no I didn't mean that commander. I just thought you would be a interesting subject to study more thoroughly....no that's even worse" Liara was getting frustrated. 

Shepard could say that little blue doctor was getting uncomfortable. She had no experience dealing with humans before so understanding a little joke could be hard for her. 

" Calm down Liara. I was just Joking" Shepard said.

Liara looked up embarrassed. .

" A joke? Oh by the goddess how can I be so dense. You see commander I do not have many encounters with humans before. " Liara said.

" Sounds lonely" Shepard said. .

While the conversation went on and on. A third guest was coming to Liara's room. Ashley went in Liara's room without knocking to a sight she never wanted to see. Shepard and Liara mumbling and giggling. That broke her heart. She never thought she would see him like this. She thought he cared for her and vice versa. But in the end Shepard and her didn't had a much future because of the regs and she could understand why he would go after someone like that. 

"I guess I was just fooling my self" she said to herself. 

She walked away from then. A tear drop dripped along her cheek. As she went back to the bench. She picked up a rifle and started cleaning them like crazy.


	13. A Break !

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this chapter is this bad. There must be so much typos and stuff. I had to rush out a chapter for you and hope you enjoy. 
> 
> P.s. I'm not proud about this one .
> 
> Bioware owns all

Ashley woke up early in the morning. She went for a shower, dressed up in her BDUs applied like make up to her face, a little bit of eyeliner and a light pink lip gloss. And as usual she made her way to the gun bench.   
Shepard did the same, only without the eyeliners and the lip gloss. Clean shaved but leaving a barely noticeable mustache. Dressed up in his BDUs, took his trusty pistol and triple checked it for errors. When it gave a satisfying beep he shrunk it placed on his hip. The next thing to do is his regular checkup on Ashley.   
The Normandy was about three hours away from Feros . Shepard was on the bridge looking over the holo display of the traverse. A small hope grew in his heart that Saren might still be there and that he could stop him once and for all. But in spite of his former missions nothing goes according to the plan. Saren could be halfway to the conduit now and they didn't have a clue where is it located. So their best bet is to find out what Saren wanted in Feros. Shepard left the bridge after he told joker to notify him two minutes before they land and left for his visit to the sweetheart.   
Ashley saw Shepard coming out of the elevator and walked towards her as usual. He didn't seem different or distracted. Ashley watched as his piercing blue eyes had fixed up on her and never took them off for a second. He carefully maneuvered through the cargo bay directly to her. The thing was he didn't even showed a sign that he was chatting with another chick. Or he was interested in any other women. Or he is really good at hiding it. That's what bothered Ashley, she couldn't tell if he's playing her or not. She didn't came all the way here just to be a sex doll for a superior officer. She had her future planned out for years ahead. But she couldn't hide her anger. She could bury it a bit but couldn't hide it .

" We're getting close to Feros. This could be it...." He said while leaning to her bench. " Are you ready?." Shepard asked. 

Ash was still so focused on cleaning her rifle and didn't even looked at him. Or so she showed him. She took a cleaning tool and rammed it into the mass effect generator as she replied. 

" Ready as I ever be 'Commander' " . And she didn't even turned her head towards him. 

Shepard felt some tension between them. Something was not right he thought.

" Is something wrong Ash?" He asked. 

Ashley just took her tool out and racked the rifle bolt and looked at Shepard. With cold cold eyes . 

" No Commander. " She said. 

Shepard felt something was definitely wrong and she was pissed about it. Best thing to was to leave her some space and come back to it later. The mission is too important for to be messed up by a lover's quarrel. 

" Alright then. Remember the mission. Dismissed chief" said Shepard as he marched towards the elevator. 

Ashley saw his rage. 'Good' she thought. 'At least he would crush Saren's nuts with this rage' 

Joker announced that the Normandy was two minutes away from Feros. The landing party was already at the gates. Ashley, Wrex and Shephard. This could be it they all thought. They all exited the Normandy as they landed on geth infiltrated colony....

**One Smelly really bad stinky battle with a big fucking plant later.....**

Ashley's eyes looked like she cried ink from her eyes instead of tears. The thorian slime made her eyeliners look like they were done by Harley Quinn when she had a bad day. Shepard was also covered in slime and gores and his head was killing him after the mind medling thing. They all needed a cold shower or a dozen and a whole lotta sleep. 

" Commander...." Ashley breathed a heavy breath.   
" Permission to go for a cold shower or two for about two hours? " She sounded exhausted. 

" Permission granted chief. I'm going to hit the showers too. " He said. He was gassed out. 

Wrex was still normal. He walked in to the cargo bay and looked at the two humans barely standing.   
" Heh.....I could kill another hundred of those and not sweat a bit. " He said. 

" You wasn't the one who constantly got hit by a green bitch's biotic balls" Shepard said. 

" Or constantly trying to keep your ass out of thorian creepers. " Ashley said. 

" Yeah...but I got to kill a dozen of geth and a giant dumb plant. So I'm not complaining" Wrex said. 

" I'm going to go now. " Shepard said frustrated. 

"I'll join you....I need a shower so bad" Ashley said. 

Shepard turned to her with a stupid grin. 

" Separately......" She said while hitting Shepard's side which made him moan due to possible breaking of a rib. 

**A shower or two... maybe three later.....**

After debriefing everyone, Shepard dismissed everyone and sent his report to the council. Turian councillor was very dissatisfied by his actions as usual. And with no good leads the team was sitting ducks. Best thing to do is let the crew go on a shore leave until Council could get him some good leads. Admiral Hackett just sent some news which made him call the team back in. 

" So what's our next move commander? Did the council got any new leads for us? " Kaidan asked as he sat on a chair. 

" Not quite. I said that Saren is looking for the conduit and the mu relay is somehow related but despite that they say that they cannot sent any troops near the terminus system. " Said Shepard. 

" So then...No? " Ash asked curiously looking at Shepard. 

" Well I knew that council would chicken out, so I asked one of ours to help us. " He paused..

" Well....Are you planning on telling me ..I mean us commander" Ashley asked. 

" Admiral Hackett just sent the word that Saren had found the Mu relay....." Everyone went damn at the same time in their own cultural appropriation. 

" But.....the supernova did a number on it. The thing is barely holding together...." Said Shepard.

Everyone's face became lit as he unwrapped the news. 

" And a rachni queen is giving them hell in there.... probably letting our friendly queen was not bad at all...." Shepard said while looking at ash. Ash snorted and turned away. 

" If the damage is that much it could take months to repair it. Even years..." Liara opened her voice which made Ashley sent a deadly look at her. 

" Maybe...but if Saren have actual reaper technology , it could only take about two or three months before he get it functional again." Shepard said. 

" That's true....if he has that technology it is easy for him. I say we take the fight to them. Saren must be there overlooking it. If we go quickly we might catch him." Kaidan said. 

" The geth are helping him so the orbit around it must be crawling with geth ships. We can't risk going there and star a war between systems. " Garrus said. 

" I've seen those geth ships they are thrice the size of this ship and there are hundreds of them. We can't just slip up there even though our stealth system is top of the line. They could just look outside the window and see us " Tali said. 

" My thought exactly. Until we find out where Saren is located and if the mu relay gets finished we don't have anything to do really. " Shepard said. 

" Great....I needed a break anyway" Ashley said while stretching her arms. 

" We all do" Shepard said. 

After agreeing on certain things, the band disbanded Shepard set the cruise to the Citadel for some down time.


	14. Unofficially Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bio ware owns all. Sorry for the change of scenery. Hope you enjoy. And I still suck at summaries.

The Normandy was heading back to the citadel. The thorian on Feros really did a number on them and they certainly could use the time just to have some relaxation.   
Shepard noticed that something was bothering Ash. Something regarding him. It’s like she put up this wall around her, pushing away him. something he did was reason behind this and he needed to find out what. The best thing to do was just go up to her and ask her if she let him. He squared away his duties and rolled back to meet with Ashley.   
Ash felt that she had been not herself lately and some of the crew noticed it. Especially Shepard. He constantly asked her if something was wrong during every little break they had. It won’t take long for Shepard to come down and ask her. _Maybe it’s a good thing_ she thought. after all if they are going to have a relationship they have to face the problems ahead. Just like she predicted the first thing she saw was Shepard leaning over to a wall, waiting for her. They needed to do this, if this thing they got is real, they have to make choices and workout the problems together.   
“Hey Ash, Can we talk?” Shepard asked.   
“Sure, but not here. I need to talk with you alone.” She said.   
“Joker?...” Shepard said.  
“Yeah yea, I heard….turning off the comms Commander” joker replied.   
“Come on. Let’s go to my quarters.” Shepard nodded to his cabin’s direction.  
“I think it’s best if the crew didn’t see us like this.” Ash said.   
“Well, then let’s go back to the bathrooms. There’s no one watching us there….Is there joker?” Shepard said while looking at the camera near the bathroom.  
“No Sir. It is strictly prohibited to spy on such private room Commander” Joker said.  
“I thought you turned off the comms joker.” Shepard raised an eyebrow.  
“……” That was joker’s reply saying “Alright I turned off this for real this time.”  
“Come on let’s head back to the bathroom” Shepard took lead and Ash followed him.  
The tension was intense between them as they walked towards the bathrooms. It only took about two minutes but it surely felt like a thousand minutes was going by and they didn’t do anything at all. There was utter silence between them and neither of them bothered to raise their voices to be heard. They entered the room and lock the door behind him.   
“ So what’s up. Didn’t expect to see you there waiting for me…” Ash said breaking the long utter silence between them.   
“ And why is that?” Shepard asked.   
“ Well I thought that you would be chatting up Dr.Whatshername. Scuttlebutt says that you’ve got a thing for her.” Ashley said.   
Shepard’s face turned into a huge grin after hearing that. All this time, she was just jealous. Shepard couldn’t hide his happiness as Ash went on and on about the regs against fraternization and how it would be diplomatically beneficial to humans to date such a character to get in the good side of the bug eyed monsters. Ashley went on and on about it and all that time Shepard only could think about was just to grab her and kiss her deeply cause this proves that she has strong feelings towards him.   
After she went on and on she caught a break and looked at Shepard. Who was smiling while looking at her.  
“What?” she asked.   
“This is why you’re mad? ” He asked laughing. “You thought that me and Dr. T’soni was like a thing?” He continued.   
“Yes that’s what I’m saying…Didn’t your dumb head couldn’t hear…….Sir” she said.   
“I heard what you said and true that Liara had some feelings towards me. But she know that my heart lies elsewhere. She just said how she felt and said and she had no intension of stand between me and the woman I lo….like.” Shepard said.   
_Did he just…._ Ash’s face turned red when she heard that. _Was he going to say that he loved me? Yes he was_  
“So why WERE you going to her room all the time?” She raised an eyebrow.  
“Seriously?......She is the only one who knows what the fuck is in my head and seriously I need to get some sleep. It’s bad that I have nightmares every day and now this? Plus I sorta is a wingman to LT in this one.” he said.  
Ash was so happy until he said something about having nightmares every day. “ _Why didn’t he say that to me?_ ” she thought. The thought was upsetting her but she didn’t want to mess up the mood again. She just found out that Shepard really loves her and she thought someday he will open up to her and hopefully that day won’t be far.  
“So…..LT and Liara huh?” she asked while twitching her lips.  
“Oh…no you don’t chief….You’re not getting off that easy. You were jealous….over ME…” Shepard said with a stupid grin on his face.  
“What? ME? Jealous? No? Why? Where?” She said playfully.   
He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side gesturing “Really?”.  
“Okay…I like you. A lot…Okay? Are you happy now?” She said.   
He just threw his arms around her waist and grabbed her closer…placing his lips against hers for long passionate kiss.   
“ So…..I’ll take that as a yes…” She smiled and placed another kiss on his lips.  
“I guess we are unofficially together then” Shepard said.  
“Yeah…I guess we are”


	15. Shore Leave i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay fellas. I know it has been two weeks since i last posted but i had a personal matter and didn't have the mood to write a romance story. However here's an extra long chapter and I hope you enjoy.  
> Bioware owns all

It has been two days since the Normandy has been docked in the Citadel. There was still no sign of Saren or the geth. They must be busy with repairing the relay or else he would’ve gone to the terminus system and destroyed humanity once and for all.  
The scouts constantly sent any information that they could find out about the relay and the geth and from the looks of it, it seems even with the reaper technology, they couldn’t quite repair it as fast as they could. Also the rachni has brought down their numbers by a significant amount so that too has made them suffer a lot.  
Since they got some down time Shepard sent all of the Normandy crew for some relaxation time while They- Ashley, Shepard, Kaidan , Liara and Tali stayed behind because they needed to be in somewhere homey and comfortable, and what better place than their ship. Garrus went to meet up with his old buddies from the C-sec and nobody knew where wrex went. Probably hanging around Chora’s Den and drowning himself with Citadels finest.  
Most of the time Shepard spent a lot of time hanging around with Ash and Kaidan sorta was chatting up with Liara, which led to tali to be like a fifth wheel. Poor girl looked at the two couples hopelessly and sighed in her helmet. Lucky for her Ashley noticed that she was left behind and took matters to her own hands.  
“Hey skipper, Imma go have a chat with Tali and Liara. Poor Tali looks like she needs someone to be with. Are you okay with that?” Ash asked while looking at Tali in the corner of her eye.  
Shepard turned his head and noticed the same thing and nodded in advance to let her know.  
“Hey Alenko….why don’t we let the ladies to have some time for themselves and hit the markets. I hear there is a great sushi place down there.” Shepard asked Kaidan while leading his eyes to Tali. Young LT immediately realized.  
“Sure Commander. Why don’t we hit the Chora’s Den too, I heard that there is a drinking war going on between two Mercs….” Alenko nodded and replied.  
“Oh damn…You don’t think Wrex is one of them do you??” Shepard asked him while rubbing his forehead.  
“Better go find out commander….” said Alenko.  
“Ladies, we’re gonna head out. Try not to blow up the ship please. Especially YOU Ash—ley” Said Shepard while pointing at her.  
“Yeah Yeah…now GO, Wrex is probably killed someone and hungover in a cell.” Ashley said with her witty grin.  
“Oh god no” Shepard said.  
“We better hurry up commander” Kaidan said while looking at T’soni.

* * *

After Shepard and Kaidan left the ship the girls got together for a chat. They established a little circle around the kitchen area. Liara was sitting beside Tali and Ash sit in front of them. They had make some tea for themselves and as for Tali, because she couldn’t remove her helmet Ash made a fresh tea paste that her mom taught her to pun on top of a cake.  
“So…Ashley, I see you and Commander are together now?” said Liara while breaking the silence.  
Ash was immediately shocked and almost choked on her tea. She looked at Liara with surprised eyes.  
“ What makes you think that?” She asked.  
“Oh come on chief, we all knew that there was a thing between you two. But you never showed that until today.” Liara replied.  
“ I’m sure you only knew because Shepard told you.” Ash asked in return.  
“No…I knew too. It was clear as skies of Citadel that you two had something between you. But I didn’t understand it until I talked to Joker about it.” Tali said while injecting some tea paste that Ash made for her.  
“YOU TOLD JOKER?” Ashley shouted. She didn’t mean to do it but the clear frustration of knowing that joker is like a comm buoy. The one thing she didn’t want was to let joker know nothing about them. But now….  
“Yeah and he told me that the two of you were dating but not dating at the same time. But I didn’t even knew about what’s a date. Which made it more complicated. But then he told me that Shepard likes you like more than a friend and you like him but no one was brave enough to say anything.” Tali explained.  
“So you know, Liara knows, Joker knows, maybe Kaidan knows…..”  
“Oh Kaidan definitely knows. He was just telling me about you two.” Liara interrupted Ashley.  
“Great…Now who doesn’t know?” Ash asked while looking at the two of them wittingly.  
Liara and Tali shrugged their shoulders as they had been caught by the owner while they were shoplifting candies. They looked at each other like to decide what to tell her right now so that she doesn’t kill them.  
“Ma…Maybe….Wrex doesn’t know?” Liara stuttered. She was genuinely terrified of Ashley despite the fact that she has biotic powers.  
“Nah…He knows. He just don’t care” Tali said while secretly looking at Ash.  
“Great, Now everyone knows that I love Shepard but only he doesn’t know.” Said Ashley without thinking through.  
Liara and Tali was looking at her shocked and only after she saw their faces she had realized what she said.  
“So you love him but didn’t tell him?” Liara asked.  
“Why?” Tali joined Liara.  
“I um…a….I meant to say was…thaaaaat….” Ashley stuttered thinking somehow she could convince them that she didn’t mean it.  
“Ashley…you know that I can read minds right?” Liara asked raising an eyebrow at her.  
“Really? Aw screw it… Yeah I love him. I care about him….a lot.” Said Ashley after she surrendered her effort.  
“Then why didn’t you tell him that?” Tali asked with a questioning look underneath her helmet. But sadly none of the girls noticed that. But Ashley answered anyway.  
“I want to tell him but….” She turned her head down while letting out a sigh which resembled her insecurity about Shepard not feeling the same way.  
“You’re afraid that Commander might not have the same feelings for you…” Asked Liara after noticed how Ash turned her head down in uncertainty.  
“I mean we just admitted that we have feelings for each other but…I can’t say if he’s ready for this yet. We haven’t even gone on a proper date yet…” Ashley said.  
“Did you have intercourse?” Tali asked in curiosity which made Liara gasp and Ashley to blush severely out of embarrassment.  
“Tali!” said Liara.  
“What? I was curious. I know that humans have intercourse when they find a certain someone. I was just wondering ….there’s nothing wrong with that? Is there Ashley…..” Tali said while she looked at Ashley still Covering her face to hide her blushing.  
“By the goddess. you don’t just ask that like that out of the blue Tali!” Liara explained.  
“Ahh….I see. My apologies Chief if I offended you. I didn’t mean to do that” Tali apologized sincerely.  
Ash took her hands down. She was still embarrassed but who could blame the little Quarian? She’s still on her pilgrimage which means she’s probably still a teen in her culture.  
“It’s okay Tali. You don’t know about humans very much and that’s understandable and No…we haven’t had “intercourse” Tali.” Ashley said while air quoting ‘intercourse’.  
“Why?” Tali asked like if she was disappointed.  
“Well in human nature people go on several dates before they go into that stage of their relationship.” Ashley said.  
“I see. In flotilla if we found someone we like and with our parents blessing we get together and have intercourse and go on in our duties as usual. I usually only take about some days and that’s it.” Tali said.  
“Really? No relationship or long walks on the corridors in the flotilla?” Ashley asked surprised.  
“Yeah.. The flotilla is constantly repaired and we can’t have anyone out of place.” Tali explained.  
“Seems like a nice place to visit” Ash said.  
“I see you being sarcastic Chief but you are correct. I wish it was more like yours where I can get to know the guy that I’m going to spend my entire life rather than straight up fuck his brains out.” Said Tali.  
“Whoa….Where did you learn that phrase? Wait, don’t tell me…it’s Joker isn’t it?” Ashley said.  
“Yeah He told me when I asked him about you two, ‘Why don’t he fuck her brains out if he’s so into her. I mean I wouldn’t even second guess with a spicy body like hers’ those were his exact words.” Tali said.  
“That’s it. I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch the second he come aboard”  
Ashley shouted infuriatedly..  
**To be continued……**


	16. Boys Day Out pt. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay guys. These few days have been just work work work and I only had so little time to write something. So instead of making you wait like another week i just wanted to post something. So this is the first part that I've been working on and hope you enjoy. Bioware owns all

Shepard and Alenko were walking down to the elevator as they are going to look for Wrex. Hopefully, not in a jail cell.  
“Hey commander, where are we exactly going now?” Alenko asked.  
“What? We just talked about this Alenko. We are going to find Wrex before he does something stupid. Hopefully he’s drunk and sleeping somewhere he can’t do another stupid thing.” Shepard said while pushing the elevator button.  
“Yeah I remember that but I meant where should we start? We have no idea where he could be right now, do we?” Alenko replied.  
“Shit! I didn’t think about that.”  
Shepard put a hand up to his chin and crossed his other arm across his chest as he tried to think of something.  
“Maybe we should call Garrus to help us. He’s probably hanging around C-sec. Some of his friends could know where he could be.” Shepard said after giving some thought.  
“Yeah that’s what I thought. Maybe if we are lucky he could be in a jail cell for minor incident.” Alenko said.  
After long boring elevator trip from the dock to the C-sec HQ, boys finally reached the floor. But the lobby seamed emptier than any other day and the noise of shouting crowd was coming from the cafeteria area. Both of them looked face to face as they both were puzzled by what’s going on. Despite the fact that Wrex could be choking some poor drunken selarion the curiosity got the best of them and both of them walked towards the cafeteria.  
As they came closer and closer to where the shouting came from they could hear some of the words the crowd was chanting. Most of them shouting “Garrus…Garrus…Garrus”, so they were certain that whatever going on, Garrus was a major part of it. The boys made their way through the excited crowd and came to a scene that they were not expecting to see……  
There they were, staring at Garrus and Wrex playing a game of Battle’th card game. Here they thought that Wrex was wrecking some cheap bar in markets, but this was seriously unexpected. They approached the two players but the two of them didn’t even notice that Shepard and Kaidan were standing beside them.  
“Um……Garrus?” Kaidan raised his voice.  
“Not now lieutenant , I’m in a middle of a battle for Ro’eth. My Battarian army of Icagar Dankawen are going to demolish his Krogan Battle Drones.” Said Garrus without even tilting his head.  
“Huh…You wish. I got a few tricks up in my sleeves too Turian. Bam!”  
Wrex shouted as he slammed the desk with a card with a picture of a three headed creature.  
Wrex’s sudden raise of voice almost gave Kaidan a heart attack and made Shepard reach to his weapon. But not even one of them took their eyes of the game table.  
“So You got a ‘Three Headed Thresher Maw’………” Garrus went to silent mode like he was calibrating something. Which made the perfect opportunity to Shepard to jump a question between them.  
“Um…………excuse me, but what the hell is going on here?” Shepard asked as he didn’t knew about this game.  
“Oh……Commander, You’re here too? I thought you might be busy with Chief Williams.” Garrus finally looked up at them.  
“ Uh……… Come again?” Shepard asked while adjusting his collar.  
“Don’t worry Commander, we all know about the two of you. No need to hide it.” Garrus said while turning his head bak to the cards he was holding.  
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Shepard said. “Now could either of you two explain this to me? Why is Wrex HERE?” Shepard asked while pointing to the desk.  
“huuuuh………” Garrus let out a big sigh.  
“This is a card battle. A battle’th if you will” Garrus pointed to the desk.  
“And Wrex here is playing with me to win a new shotgun that I got from certain dealer.” Garrus showed a new Katana XII shotgun.  
“ We have been playing for about two hours now…… and we tied. Now this battle for the Roak’th sword of Icania Sagrias.” Garrus pointed at the Golden card sitting in the corner of the desk.  
“If someone takes control of the Roak’th Sword, he has the power to wipe out the entire enemy deck on the table while also dealing half of the damage to his troops. But if someone has the ‘Shield Of Rushikma’ one of his heroes could withstand the power of the sword and deal a deadly blow to the other team who has been weakened by the negative effect of the sword. I could go on and on but I think you get the general idea” Said Garrus.  
“HA! My poison arrow of Lubuki can kill your thresher maw and deal 25% damage to your master card. Which puts you down to………… 55 health points.” Garrus shouted.  
“So…… basically it’s a card game? Which you have been playing for two hours now?” Alenko asked.  
“Mmhmm…” Garrus hummed.  
Shepard looked at Kaidan’s face trying to wrap their heads around the fact that Wrex is playing a civilized game with a C-sec officer.  
“Looks like they are gonna be here for about two hours more. Wanna grab something to eat?” Shepard asked while still staring at the two players in front of each other.  
“Sure…I heard that Chora’s den has amazing meat roles. Let’s head up to there.” Alenko suggested.  
“You just wanna see some asari butts and tities. Why……Liara isn’t enough?” Shepard grinned.  
“Oh come on, She’s hot and sweet but I can’t ask straight her to show me her but, can I?” Kaidan asked.  
“Okay Okay……” Said Shepard while walking towards the fast travel station.

**To Be Continued....**

* * *


	17. Sorry in advance

**To all my readers. I am sorry that I'm not posting like before bringing you a new story every week or two weeks. The thing is, my exams are really close and I have to study hard. So I don't have the time to write and I am sorry to say that I have to take a break for about two months. Hopefully you guys will still be interested in my stories and enjoy em. Thank you for all the support and please be patient I will write eventually. Thank you all for everything.**


	18. Boys' Day out Pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Yeah...I know...I said I'll be back in six or so months but here I am...after a Year. Im really sorry i had some personal issues to work on and Im back. However after this chapter I would say that there won't be any dialogues from the game since everyone played it and for someone who hasn't played it it'll be spoilers. So after this, dialogues made by my own head will be in the story but there will be some exceptions here and there so don't worry ash will have her poetic moments. Please bear with me . I hope you enjoy and Bioware owns all. 
> 
> P.s. Still suck at Summeries

After few minutes through the market and Kaidan and Shepard made it to the chora's den. Just before the entrance Kaidan saw that two Krogans were following them from his peripheral. But when he looked back, the krogans just simply walked pass them to the den. Kaidan wasn't sure that they WERE following them but he kept his eye on them.   
Shepard was checking on his Omni-Tool while theyade their way to a booth near the door.   
"So where are you now?" Shepard was texting with Ashley on his Omni-Tool.   
" At Chora's Den..." Shepard replied.  
"Why... aren't my titties enough for you? " Ashley texted back.   
" Do you even have titties? " Shepard joked.   
" What?" Ashley sent.   
"Just kidding. I'm sure you have marvelous titties. " Shepard replied. While smiling to himself.   
"Hi... welcome to Chora's Den, How can I help you today? " a stunning asari asked them while looking sexy as they always are.   
"Yeah. We'll take five meat-rolls for each and two earth whiskeys." Kaidan ordered.   
"So what's you two Chatting about? " Kaidan asked when he saw Shepard burying his head into his Omni-Tool.   
"Titties" Said Shepard, instantly regretted it.  
"What? " Kaidan asked while smirking at Shepard.   
" No.. nothing. Just duties" said Shepard trying to cover his mistake poorly.   
" Sureeee....." Kaidan said.   
Then again he saw the two Krogans looking at them from the otherside of the bar.   
_"Why don't I come to your quarters tonight and show you"_ another text from Ashley.   
" Yeah why don't you Chief " Shepard sent.   
" Hey Commander. I think you have some fans here " Kaidan said while looking at the krogans. Shepard looked at Kaidan and then saw that he was looking at the far end of the bar where he also saw the two Krogans staring at them and quickly looking away.   
"Hmm...I see...why don't we pay them a little visit around the corner " Said Shepard.   
As soon as he said it, the two krogans flipped their table and screemed "NOW!!". And just like that shit hit the fan. A dozen more mercs came out from the back guns blazing. Shepard quickly hit the deck and Kaidan followed.   
" I see that Saren still thinks about us " Said Kaidan.  
" Yeah so sweet of them to think of Us in this troubled times " Shepard replied while arming his Assault Rifle.   
The two fought until their weapons overheated. And when their ARs busted they used their Snipers and that got busted they used their Pistols.  
" So... how's your meat rolls " Shepard asked while ducking over a table.  
" Toasted " said Kaidan while lifting a Salarian merc and throwing through a window.   
And after an hour or so all the mercs were dead where they stood. And they quickly left the scene since they definitely would get banned from ever returning to there. After hitting another bar and some drinks to dull the soreness they returned to the ship.  
" So...that was fun" Said Kaidan.   
"Shut Up..." Shepard said while leaving to his cabin.   
" What happened? You guys look like shit" Wrex asked.  
" Well since you two were so in your game, we went for a quick bite at the Chora's den. Then we got them sweet meat rolls. Then a dozen mercs showed up, then we had to blast their heads off. And then returned here." Kaidan said sarcastically.  
" I missed a Bar Fight?.... I'm never hanging with you Garrus. I'm sticking with these two. Man I can't believe I missed that" Wrex pouted.  
Kaidan Rolled his eyes while Garrus and Wrex argued why their game caused him to miss an epic fight.   
Meanwhile... Shepard entered his quarters and took his shirt for getting a nice hot shower and after that a good chat with Ashley.   
" Well hello there Skipper...." a familiar voice came from His bedside area. He turned to look who it is and was shocked by the presence of the individual.

It was Ashley. On his bed. Only wearing her BDU pants and A lace Bra. And then she took it off making Shepard drop his jaw at the sight of them.   
The dim lights of the cabin made her breasts sparkle. A perfect round breast which were so firm even the girl with biggest boobs would be jealous for them. And the small brown nipples looked so firm that it could drill a man between his eyes at a certain amount of yards.   
"Like what you see there Skipper? " Ashley broke the silence.   
" Ash...you look... Amazing" Shepard said. Still in shock.   
" Well...you challenged me and a Williams never backs down from a challenge" said Ash.   
" Well then....I challenge you to get that gorgeous looking titties to my premises" Shepard smirked.   
" Make me " She said playfully.   
Shepard grabbed her from the waist and placed a passionate kiss on her lips while leaning her towards the bed. This was their first intimate moment. Shepard ran his fingers along her back while enjoying his well earned gorgeousness. Ash kissed his head while he went down on her nipples. He ran his hands through her pants hoping to find the wetness that he felt on his groin, but Ashley stopped him....  
"Ah ah aa Loverboy....you need to do more than challenge me to get there. " She said.   
" Fair enough" said Shepard.   
After some hot stuff (I'm really not good at writing sex stuff) they went to sleep in their arms and for the first time ever....no nightmares.


	19. Suspense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no summary. You have to read all the way to the down to see why is it suspenseful. 😁
> 
> Bioware owns all. 
> 
> Still suck at Summeries

Ashley woke up to a warm breeze on her neck. Shepard's masculine arms were still wrapped around her bosoms. His snugly warmth spread throughout her body. His face rested on her neck. Thus creating a most homely place that she did not want to get up from. She put her arms on Shepard's arms to steal more heat from him as possible. But the swift moment woke up the man. Who could blame him. He was trained to be alerted. 

"Hey" Ash said, still grabbing his arms to keep on her body. 

"Hey yourself, young lady" Shepard said. He placed a warm kiss on her back. Making her snuggle more into his possession. 

"We've gotta wake up sleepy head. We have a job to do remember?" Shepard said while turning her face to his side. He ran his hand through the side of her face. 

"Mmmhmmmm....." She mumbled. "Do we have to?"

"Come on chief.. don't you have to check out guns and stuff" He said while pinching her nipple. 

" Stop it you perv." She slapped his hand. And placed a passionate kiss on his lips. "Let's get up. Wouldn't want joker to have his morning boner by looking at us." She joked. 

Ashley wrapped the bedsheets around her chest and made off to the bathroom to get ready. Shepard also got up and dressed in his BDUs. 

"Hey Skipper?"

"Yeah"

"You wouldn't happen to have a makeup set lying around somewhere here, do you? " She asked. 

"Come on, you don't need make up. You look beautiful as it is" 

"Maybe to you. But I need to apply some light make up so I don't look like I finished a bottle of scotch for others. "

" I could ask Liara to bring you some if you need." He said. 

"Shepard she's blue. " Ash said mockingly. 

" So...." Shepard said. Laughing under his breath.

" Shut up. I'll just go to ladies room and grab my stuff. Hopefully no one sees me. Bye bye Commander Perv" Ashley placed a quick kiss on his cheek and left the quarters.   
Shepard tied his shoes and went to the bridge to get some information on the current situation. For the first time, the crew was having some down time they very well deserved. Joker and Some of the crew members were having a what looked like a friendly card game with scuttlebutt. But knowing Joker he could've put his crotches to the bet. Shepard walked over to the game table and cleared his throat to announce his presence. 

"Oh hey Commander, Care to join our friendly game. It's totally legal and fair. " Joker said while looking up at Shepard. 

"Knowing you Joker, I'm not gonna even touch a card when you are there. " Shepard smirked. 

"Yeah I'm a really good and lucky player. " Joker said. 

" Or a clever cheater." Shepard smirked again. 

"Anyway...anything from Admiral Heckett or the Council? " He asked.

" Nada. Not even a Hello. I think saren must've gone on vacation. Good for us I say. " Joker replied. 

"Oh, Captain Anderson said he wanna meet you today. He said he'll be at the Flux around 8.Oh and he said bring Chief with you too." He added. 

Shepard looked at the time. It was 8.30. 

"Joker! It's 8.30 already. Why the fuck didn't you inform me sooner?" Shepard barked at him. 

" I did but you didn't answer. I tried to reach you and Chief Williams but no one answered so I figured you were busy with...you know....stuff" Joker answered with a small grin. 

"For your information I was asleep. " Shepard thinned his eyes at him and marched off to get off the ship. 

"Ash, meet me at the exit ASAP" Shepard talked to his Omni-Tool

"Aye Aye Skipper" It beeped.

* * *

Shepard and Ashley hurried to the C-Sec academy as the could get a Fast travel car to the Flux. Walked towards the elavator and began the slowest elevator ride in the whole universe. 

" You know. For the well technically advanced place in the whole universe this place has the slowest elevator ever. " Shepard said. 

Ashley was in her own world and didn't hear anything he said. She kept looking out from the glass. It was obvious that something was bothering her mind. 

"Hey... Everything OK?" Scared from her intense silence. Shepard opened his voice. 

"Huh...Oh nothing Skipper. It's just....Why did captain specifically said to bring me with you? What if somehow he know about us? I mean the crew is fine but Captain Anderson is a superior. And and...." She was talking fast. In Ashley's mind this was a disaster. She could be court martialed. She could never make her dad proud. She could never clear the name of Williams rather destroying it even more. Thoughts of disappointment and utter stress darkened her mind.   
Suddenly she stopped as she felt a warmth on her lips. Shepard kissed her as it was the only thing that could silence her.   
"Relax Ash. I know the man for about two or three years now. Even if he knew about us he wouldn't just rat us out to the Navy. He always said we work better when we are around people who we care about. Let's just go and see what happens. "   
Shepard said while looking into her dark brown eyes. They were filled with tears. Shepard placed another kiss on hee lips then wiped her eyes. Just as they finished the door opened up. Ash wanted to hug her man but it had to wait since they were already late. They grabbed a fast car to the Flux club and reached it in no time.   
On the way to the Club, Shepard took Ash's hand as if he knew that she needed to be touched in a sincere way. They unlocked their hands moments before entering the club. Caption Anderson was sitting at a table in the far corner, as he didn't want anyone to hear their conversation. He was grabbing his drink when he saw the couple heading towards him. He raised his glass as to greet them.   
Shepard stood straight and saluted as he was a superior and Ashley followed the same.   
"At ease Son. You're off duty now. Chief Williams" Cap Anderson looked at both of them and gestured them to sit.   
"So how are things at the Normandy? Any news from Saren ? " He asked.   
" Not yet sir. Scouts have been trying to follow geth ships to him but they just out maneuver them. " Shepard replied.   
"Hmm. I feel like he's not resting but prepping for something bigger. Something that could hit us hard and never recover anytime soon." Anderson stated.   
" He sent some mercs to take us out at Chora's den yesterday. So he's still thinking about us. " Shelard said.   
Anderson replied with a small hmm while looking at a waitress to order three drinks.   
"I need to talk to both of you about something. " He emptied his glass.   
" What you two are doing is wrong, you know that right? " He asked while looking at Ash. 

Ash and Shepard looked face to face as they were shocked by Anderson's words. Or so they acted like it.....  
To be continued.....


	20. When we were together, I forget the rest.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So in the last episode Shepard went to flux with Ashley to meet Anderson. And he said something about something being wrong....if you really want to know you can go read it....😁 Ha haa.... "marketing. " 
> 
> Anyway... here's from there. 
> 
> For those who really love English literature. I apologize. I am not a English speaker from birth. I'm from Sri Lanka so forgive me if i butchered the meaning of the specific item that you'll find in the bottom.

Shepard looked back and forth between Ashley and Anderson. Cpt. Anderson looked calm and was enjoying his drink while Ashley was still conflicted about her future.  
" What are you talking about Cap'n ?" Shepard asked as the suspense was killing them.  
" You KNOW what I'm talking about Shepard, dating your own crew member in a Crisis like this?....." He paused for a moment to get a sip of his drink and turned to Ashley. " And Williams, You know that you could get court martialed for dating someone in the same line of command, right? " He said. 

Shepard looked at Ashley as she was facing down, thinking about what would happen next? Her whole career could be over in a moment.  
_Is Shepard really worth it?_ She thought.  
_What the fuck am I thinking, of course he's worth it. I love him._ She thought to herself. 

Under the conflicted thoughts between Shepard and Ashley. Anderson broke the silence." Good thing you're not in the same line of command anymore. " Said Anderson while casually drinking his drink. 

Ashley quickly lifted her head up as she couldn't believe that he really said it. 

"What do you mean captain? " She asked. 

" I mean with Shepard being a Spectre, he is no longer in our chain of command as he is legally answers for the Council. He is still an Alliance soldier but there's loop holes as one can not be in two chains of commands. So by superiority Council takes the command of him. " Said Anderson while looking at the couple's face light up like a Christmas tree. 

" I've always said that we work better around people who we love. So in a situation like this, having a thing like this is really good for keeping you on the job. " Said Anderson. 

Shepard and Ashley looked at each other as they both left a sigh of relief. Both of them smiled at each other as they secretly touched legs. (Weird right? )  
" But..How did you know? " Asked Shepard. 

" Oh come on Shepard, did you think I'm that stupid to see the signs? The way you talked about her after eden prime, the way she looks at you whenever you came to the embassy, an 12 year old could figure out that you would be dating real soon." Anderson said while finishing his glass. 

Shepard's face turned red when Anderson started unfolding about him developing feelings towards Ash. She looked at him and was mesmerized by this little thing. Commander Shepard getting embarrassed because one of his friends exploited about his little crush. He looked like a third grader who was stuck between his crush and his best friend , bullying him about "Love". For whatever reason Ashley felt more connected to him. She grabbed his hand, and looked at him. Not even caring about Cap'n Anderson was sitting there with them. She wanted to kiss him. But she didn't want to push too far. Shepard was smiling in embarrassment while Anderson finished. 

" Plus once you get Joker drunk enough, he'll tell even how to hotwire the Normandy and steal it. " 

Anderson's quote made them burst into a laugh breaking out of his embarrassment . 

" So... you're okay with us dating? Don't you think it'll distract me from the original mission? " Shepard asked. 

" Son, I've known you for about three years now. One thing that i know about is that you'll never stop your mission under any circumstances. Even if it costs your life........Even though I respect your Determination. You don't care much about your life son. And that's what scares me. After akuze and Mindoir, you only cared about other's lives while we were worried about your life.....You are a good soldier Shepard....all this time you had something worth dying for. But now you have something to live for. So would it be distracting to you that you have someone to come home to or would make you even more courageous to complete the mission so you can come back to her? " 

Anderson's speech made Ashley love him even more. While Shepard was accepting it as it was the truth. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently to show his affection and appreciattion. Seeing this connection between them made Anderson happg as he saw Shepard finally being happy for himself. 

" The reason why i wanted to meat the both of you is that i didn't want you to think that what you are doing is wrong. Even though there could be some issues but nothing severe as getting court martialed. So you don't have to worry about that......" Said Anderson. He grabbed something under the table and presented it to them. 

" Here...a little good luck gift for you. My dad gave it to me when I brought to our house. Even though I'm not your father, you're like a son to me. So i want you to have it. " He put it on the table. Shepard grabbed what looked lika a Liquor Bottle and he was right. In his hand he held a 1999 Jack Daniels Whiskey. Which is over 150 years old, and was still well preserved. He showed it to Ash too as she was amazed by how long it had been since that date. 

" Try not to drink it all in one day okay" said Anderson while looking at her. 

She lifted her head and looked at him with widened eyes as in "What? How? " . But Anderson didn't address himself. He simply stood up while giving a wink to Shepard. 

" Alright. Ambassador Udina's probably looking for me. Best of luck to both of you. And Shepard keep me posted on Saren okay? " Said Anderson. 

Both Shepard and Ashley stood up and saluted him as he walked away. After he existed the club the sat again, looking at the gift he left for them. They looked at each other to make sure that this wasn't a dream. The thought of they could be together without any complications.  
Shepard leaned on his back trying to grasp what just happened. Without realizing he had a purpose to live. All these years he only cared about other's safety. But now he had to be careful because if something would happen to him it all falls on her. He couldn't do it to the woman he love. He looked at Ash, she was deep on her thoughts too. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Bringing her to this demention. In her mind this was all a dream. She joined the army in order to clear the name of her grandfather. To become more than just a cursed name. To be someone that could make all the Williams proud. She never wished to be loved. She never Thought about love after joining the army. But now she has someone that's good for her. Who doesn't care about her past. Her family's past. Someone who loves her for herself. She felt happy as she felt a warmth on her hand. She looked at him. He was smiling. Which led Ashley to smile also. It felt weird. But good. They both looked at the gift Anderson left them. There was a small note sticked to the wrapper reading,

 __ **"Day by day nigh by night, We were together. All else has long been forgotten by me. "  
** -Walt Whitman-  
Shepard looked at Ash as she was the one with all the good poems in her head. Even though they were in a dark corner, the glimmering lights bounced off her face to give it a perfect glance. Citadel's lights creeped through the window like laser beams landing on her hair. Her hair glowed in the darkness. He placed his hand on her chin. And turned her face to him. She looked at him he looked at her and their lips locked without giving a crap about who was there. Ashley hugged his masculine arm and placed her head on his shoulder. For a club with so much people it sure felt peaceful. 

" Hey Ash" Shepard called. 

"Hmm? " Ashley refused to take back her head from his warmth. 

" Let's go on a proper date" He said while he placed a kiss on her head. 

" I would love that" She said. 

In a club so full of different species. And with loud noise. They couldn't hear anything but

_When we were together. I forget the rest_

in the back of their heads.


End file.
